Rurality and Workforce Participation

Exploring the Prevalence of Part-time and Insecure Work in Grampians Public Sector Roles

This research – undertaken by Dr Cathy Tischler, Dr Kelsey McDonald, Professor Keir Reeves and Ms Emma Dallamora – engaged with public sector workers in the Grampians to understand issues leading to higher rates of part-time and casualised work.

The work highlighted the impact of external challenges on workforce participation in a rural context, which included fewer structural supports for women. This situation is the result of continuing gendered expectations around caregiving and limited access to structural supports for this, such as childcare and after-school care.

Further, the research identified strong efforts by workplaces to drive flexibility and innovation driven largely around trying to respond to critical workforce shortages – another regional issue.

Mid-level professional roles are a ‘sweet spot’ for flexible and part-time work, identifying the region has some work to do in terms of improving access for women into managerial positions and providing additional supports for women in frontline service work.

Interestingly, women were also making decisions around part-time and casual work to provide flexibility to manage family and workforce needs around seasonal workforce needs on the farm (particularly harvest).

Ultimately, the research found that high rates of gendered part-time and casualised work are intrinsically linked to the lack of supports available for people, and particularly women, to manage the complexity of family and work.

Women were making choices about the seniority and scope of their workforce participation individually, which hides these issues from view as a cultural or systematic problem requiring policy change.