Data shows 15.3% of those employed in the arts worked zero hours in week before census while housework gender gaps persist
In NSW, which had been in lockdown for six weeks prior to census day, nearly a third of employed people worked from home.Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters
More than 20% of employed people were working from home on census day in August 2021 after the pandemic upended employment practices, data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggests.
The rates were even higher in capital cities – jumping to 25% – compared with one in eight in the regions.
Most people living in eastern Australia in August 2021 were subject to lockdown restrictions.
With much of the nation confined to their homes amid Covid outbreaks, 2.5 million of the 12 million people employed on census day were working remotely, accounting for just over 20% of the working population.
In New South Wales, where greater Sydney and large parts of the state were subject to strict stay-at-home orders, the figure was even higher, with 31% working from home, followed by 26% in Victoria. Comparatively, just 4% of the Northern Territory’s relatively Covid-free population were set up remotely.
The census general manager, Duncan Young, said working-from-home rates increased by nearly four times “right across the country” but were most stark in NSW, which had been in lockdown for six weeks prior to census night.
“Nearly half of people working from home were in NSW,” he said. “But in South Australia and Tasmania it was still about 10% of the workforce – significantly higher than 2016. There was a shift there regardless of lockdown being experienced.”
The Australian statistician Dr David Gruen said the unusual 2021 census provided “fascinating insight” into how Australians worked and lived during a global pandemic.
“Covid-19 restrictions in NSW contributed to unprecedented results,” he said.
“For example, 15% of people employed in the construction industry in NSW worked zero hours. This contrasts to the rest of Australia, with 3% of the people employed in construction working zero hours.”
Overall, almost 7% of employed people worked zero hours in the week before the census, more than double the rate in 2016, when 3% were out of the workplace. Reasons included taking leave and being unable to work due to self-isolation requirements or lockdown restrictions.
Some occupations were hit by Covid harder than others, largely due to a near-total shutdown of the entertainment and hospitality sectors.
Arts and recreation were most severely affected, with 15.3% of employees working zero hours, followed by accommodation and food services (12.8%) and mining (9%).
The picture differed by state and territory. In shuttered NSW, 23% of employed arts and recreation workers worked zero hours, followed by 20% in Queensland and 14% in Victoria.
Industries reliant on travel also struggled with the suspension of international flights. The number of employed tourism and travel advisers more than halved compared with the last census.
In contrast, “essential” services and professions that were relatively easy to transition remotely including professional, scientific and technical services, financial and insurance services and agriculture, forestry and fishing were broadly untouched.
Other sectors boomed because, not in spite of, lockdowns. With Australians turning to takeaway services in droves, the number of delivery drivers jumped by more than 70%, while there was also an 8.7% increase in truck drivers.
Meanwhile, Australians were working fewer hours and flocking to part-time work.
The number of people working 40 hours or more a week dropped by 7% in the latest census compared with a decade ago (38% compared with 45%). Full-time work is defined as 35 or more hours a week.
Young said people working part-time had jumped by 3% since the 2016 census (30% to 33%), a “notable” five-year increase.
Yet of the 4 million Australians working part-time, the vast majority (2.6 million) were women and two in three of the 7 million working full-time were men.
Housework wasn’t equally shared. Just 10% of men employed full-time undertook 15 or more hours of domestic work a week, less than half the rate of women (21%).
Slightly more men employed part-time completed a similar rate of domestic work (15%) however it was compared to 32% of women in the same bracket.
Young said the census always provided a “snapshot” in time, but filling it out during a year of unprecedented circumstances meant some trends were likelier to be shorter-lived than others.
“Will 2026 be more like 2016 or more like 2021?” he said.
“I don’t think any of us think the world will go back to how it was in 2016, but obviously the impacts of lockdowns won’t be in place. It’s a reflection of a unique moment in Australia’s history. It’ll be something looked back at in many years to come; we’ve been able to capture this time.”
The third and final set of census data will be issued early to mid-next year.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/12/more-than-one-in-five-australians-worked-from-home-at-height-of-2021-lockdowns-census-shows
