When senior leaders at Woolworths were faced with a talent shortage in late 2004, they began to investigate why - in a company where women outnumbered men and 85 per cent of executive appointments were internal - just 16 per cent of its top 400 leaders were women.
In spite of looming skills shortages and declining productivity, Australia's leading corporations continue to "under-utilise" diversity groups to source talent and leverage their brand, say the authors of a new report.
The number of employers cited in the Federal Government's 2010 employer of choice for women list has dropped to 95, down from 111 last year and 99 in 2008.
Employers that support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) workers enjoy greater employee commitment, says former High Court Justice Michael Kirby.
The number of women on boards of ASX200 companies increased marginally in 2009, according to a new index that names the "good guys" and "the laggards".
Workplace meetings are often seen as a time-wasters because they are chaired by managers who don't know how to conduct them effectively, says business executive and author Karen Adamedes.
"Naming and shaming" would be more effective than quotas in redressing the gender imbalance against women in senior leadership roles, according to former Apple managing director, Di Ryall.
The Australian Services Union hopes to raise the pay of community services workers by up to 30 per cent, in Fair Work Australia's first pay-equity test case.
Flexible work arrangements will be seen as solutions to the "problem" of women's employment until more men access them, says the director of the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA), Mairi Steele.
Changes to the 457-visa scheme are mostly in favour of 457 holders, and will disadvantage employers that have relied on on-the-job training, according to Acacia Immigration Australia director, Mark Webster.
