One of the Abbott government’s election promises was to cut 12,000 public service jobs. Natural attrition is proving difficult as employees bunker down in this uneasy time and so a hiring freeze was called in early October.
The government is now dithering over its promise to cut jobs but the hiring freeze remains in place. Current recruitment processes have been suspended indefinitely. Previously, hundreds of jobs were advertised on the Australian Public Service (APS) website each week, now there is practically nothing.
As part of the cull, slashed non-ongoing and contract positions are to be filled by “displaced persons” from other reduced or abolished APS agencies. Employees that are currently on or preparing to take leave are feeling particularly vulnerable about their job status upon their return.
Caroline Baum* is a permanent federal employee intending to take 12 months maternity leave early next year. Having recently transferred into her current position, Caroline is apprehensive about what these changes mean for her.
“Because I happen to be pregnant, I will be thrown into a pool of people who don’t have positions and therefore, I may be more likely to be made redundant. I hope that being on maternity leave means they won’t discriminate against me, but I just don’t know, there’s a lot of uncertainty.”
David Baker from the Australia Institute who authored ‘The wage-penalty effect: The hidden cost of maternity leave’, notes that women on maternity leave may now be forced to return to work earlier than planned. “The risk for women from the public service extending their maternity leave would be exacerbated if their position wasn’t kept open.”
It is a possibility that Caroline now has to consider. “If it meant I could get my old job back, I’d be more inclined to return to work full-time and earlier than the intended 12 months, and put my baby into full-time care. I want to go back to a job where I’ve built up a reputation and have contacts.”
The hiring freeze is also putting pressure on stay-at-home mothers trying to find part-time work.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released a report today stating that the primary consideration for Australia’s 1.2 million job seekers is the availability of part-time hours.
Lily Lu* has been looking for a part-time government position for several months so that she can care for her young children at home as well.
“I had an interview with one department and things were looking promising. But then the process was cancelled due to the hiring freeze. My elder son attends daycare three days a week, and the youngest was about to start early next year. I don’t know if we may need to take them out and lose their places, or how we can afford to live off one salary indefinitely.”
Lisa Newman is an elected representative for the Community and Public Service Union. She says that job security and uncertainty over flexible working arrangements are the primary concerns faced by women in the public service. She also expects that women in the lower classifications, such as call centres and customer service jobs, will take the brunt of the cuts.
“It is unclear as to how many jobs the government will cut, it could be anywhere from 12,000 to 26,000 but I imagine that those sort of cuts will be disproportionately aimed at the service delivery and as a consequence, will affect women far more than men. That’s unfortunately the grim situation we’re looking at.”
*Names have been changed