1377.0 - Measures of a knowledge-based economy and society, Australia, 2003  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 22/12/2004  Ceased
   Page tools: Print Print Page  
Contents >> Human Capital Indicators >> Knowledge workers as a proportion of employed persons

CHARACTERISTIC: STOCK OF SKILLED PEOPLE

INDICATOR: Knowledge workers as a proportion of employed persons

Knowledge workers now represent 39.2% of all employed persons in the Australian labour force. This indicates a strong ability to create and use knowledge throughout the economy. Professionals and associate professionals, in particular, have steadily increased as a proportion of the labour force over the last six years, increasing from 27.9 in 1997 to 31.3% in 2004.



KNOWLEDGE WORKERS AS A PROPORTION OF EMPLOYED PERSONS(a)
1997
1998
1999
(b)2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
Managers and Administrators
7.6
7.4
7.3
7.2
7.7
7.6
7.3
7.9
Professionals
17.3
17.7
17.9
18.2
18.6
18.7
18.7
19.0
Associate Professionals
10.7
10.3
11.1
11.4
11.7
11.8
12.3
12.4
Total Knowledge Workers
35.5
35.4
36.4
36.8
37.9
38.2
38.3
39.2
(a) Estimates from 1997 onwards have been revised using updated population benchmarks based on results from the 2001 Census of Population and Housing.
(b) There is a break in the Labour Force series in February 2000 (see Labour Force Survey Notes in STATISTICAL NOTES).
Source: ABS Labour Force Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) (February, May, August, November).

KNOWLEDGE WORKERS AS A PROPORTION OF EMPLOYED PERSONS(a)

Source: ABS Labour Force Australia (cat. no. 6202.0) (February, May, August, November).


STATISTICAL NOTES

Knowledge workers
Knowledge workers are defined here as those classified as managers and administrators, professionals and associate professionals in the Australian Standard Classifications of Occupations (ASCO). This definition was also used by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources in its publication, Australia as a Modern Economy: Some statistical indicators, 2002 and is compatible with the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) definition in Towards Knowledge-based Economies in APEC, 2000.

The Labour Force Framework
The labour force is the most widely used measure of the economically active population, that is, the labour supply available for the production of economic goods and services in a given period. The term ‘labour force’ as defined in the international standards is associated with a particular approach to the measurement of employment and unemployment. Essentially this approach is the categorisation of persons according to their activities during a short reference period by using a specific set of priority rules.
The labour force framework classifies the in-scope population into three mutually exclusive categories, at a given moment in time:employed; unemployed; and not in the labour force. The employed and unemployed categories together make up the labour force which gives a measure of the number of persons contributing to, or willing to contribute to, the supply of labour at that time. The third category (not in the labour force) represents the currently inactive population.
For more information see ABS Labour Statistics: Concepts Sources and Methods, (cat. no. 6102.0).

Employed Persons
Employed persons include all persons aged 15 years and over who, during the reference week: worked for one hour or more for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind in a job or business, or on a farm (comprising employees, employers and own account workers); or worked for one hour or more without pay in a family business or on a farm (i.e. contributing family workers); or were employees who had a job but were not at work and were: away from work for less than four weeks up to the end of the reference week; or away from work for more than four weeks up to the end of the reference week and received pay for some or all of the four week period to the end of the reference week; or away from work as a standard work or shift arrangement; or on strike or locked out; or on workers' compensation and expected to return to their job; or were employers or own account workers, who had a job, business or farm, but were not at work.

Labour Force Survey notes
Labour Force Survey occupation data are classified, from August 1996, according to the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) Second Edition, a detailed description of which appears in Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, Second Edition (cat. no. 1220.0).
As a result of changes in coding methods, estimates classified by industry, occupation and status in employment data from February 2000 onwards are not strictly comparable with earlier periods. For details on the changes to industry and occupation, in particular associate professionals, refer to the ABS Information Paper: Forthcoming Changes: Industry, Occupation and Status in Employment Data, (cat. no. 6203.0.)




Previous PageNext Page