Even before the pandemic, about 40% of Australian workers were in non-standard forms of employment, one of the highest rates in the world. Variously casualised, contracted, hired out and otherwise short-changed, the business model of precarious employment is crafted to shift financial risk to workers in the ruthless pursuit of ever-higher profit margins. Daily life increasingly plays out for many as a horror story of generalised precarity and anxiety, especially for expendables such as temporary visa-holders, those employed by, or studying in, universities, and many casual workers, who were excluded from welfare and income support during the pandemic.
As CEOs and those who inhabit the corridors of power feather their own nests with executive bonuses and dividends and take lessons in how to let go of their employees with empathy, their underlings are trained in the gospel of âresilienceâ. Amped up by flaky mindset coaches and self-help gurus, theyâre lectured on how to âbounce backâ in a labour market in which there are too few jobs to go around. An unemployment benefit well below the poverty line supposedly incentivises shirkers to get a job, no matter how poorly paid and precarious. The prime ministerâs favourite mantra,