A new report from The Australia Institute claims that casual and part-time workers made up 75% of job losses in the three months to August, a period in which Australia’s two biggest states were being impacted by COVID-19 outbreaks. The Institute found that casual workers were eight times more likely to lose work in that period when compared to people in permanent jobs, while part-time employees were 4.5 more times likely to lose work,
Below is the Summary, alongside key charts and tables:
The unprecedented economic fluctuations resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and double-dip recession have imposed enormous costs on the millions of Australians who work in non-standard, insecure jobs. They face particularly uncertain employment prospects, due to the lack of job security and stability in hours. Most are also denied basic employment protections and entitlements – most dangerously, amidst a pandemic, they do not get paid time off in event of illness or exposure to COVID-19. New data confirms that workers in casual and other insecure jobs have borne a vastly disproportionate share of job losses during both waves of COVID-19 lockdowns.
