A serendipitous synchronisation of interests: employers and student-working

Part-time working while studying full-time is now the norm for young Australian students, whether they are at school, TAFE or university. Australian research in this area currently comprises one body of research looking at learning from part-time jobs, and a second focusing upon the problems that time spent at work may cause with young people’s study load. To date there has not been any major Australian research into the ways in which employers utilise student-working as part of their management strategies. This paper draws upon part of the research carried out in the first year of an Australian Research Council Linkage project on student-working. Case studies carried out with three major employers of part-time student labour and focus groups with university students have shown how the needs of young people for suitable work at convenient times and those of some employers coincide remarkably well. These employers have learned to shape their human resource management strategies around the nature of their student workforces, and continually adapt their strategies to make themselves more attractive to their current and potential workforces