Research - SSRHC Project

Workforce Ageing in the New Economy (WANE)

The Workforce Ageing in the New Economy (WANE) project has been funded (Can$560,000) for four years by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSRHC) (2002-2006). It was the largest grant of its kind ever awarded by SSHRC (Can$3.5 million). This international project is a cross-national study of the information technology (IT) workforce in new economy small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in Canada, the United States, European Union and Australia. WANE examines how IT workers can maintain productive employment in IT across their working lives in the ‘new economy’. The Australian team is led by Associate Professor Dr Libby Brooke.

Stage 1, which was conducted in 2002-2003, consisted of the benchmarking of IT demography and environment through the analysis of large-scale statistical data.

Stage 2, which we are currently undertaking, consists of fieldwork among small- to medium-sized enterprises and one large enterprise.

The international teams have spent the last year in the field collecting data from participating case study companies. The Australian team has recruited one large sized company with 150 employees, one medium sized company with approximately 70 employees, and seven smaller sized IT companies with between 5 and 20 people. Data have been collected from an online survey, qualitative face-to-face interviews, observational notes and archival sources.

These data are being used to compile case study company reports and an overall country report on workforce ageing in Australian IT employment. The Country reports will contribute to an international report. Participating companies will also be provided with a feedback report which will contain a lower level analysis of company findings.

The final WANE meeting was held on October 2006 in Banff Canada, and was attended by the Australian team: Professor Louise Rolland, Associate Professor Libby Brooke and Cheree Topple, WANE doctoral student.

The findings from the data collection with companies will be developed into human resources practice tools and policy in 2006. Australian and international conclusions will form the basis for further policy development, such as in employment relations and IT education and training. A central goal of the research is to produce a body of knowledge that will develop lifecourse sensitive policy initiatives. These informed policies will enable governments, employers, and employees to deal more effectively with ageing workforces, age diversity in employment, employment growth and skill shortages in the IT labour markets and the transformation of employment relations in the new economy.