Our week at work, September 27 – October 3

By Josephine Asher
If you thought you were young, hip and ready to take on the world…here’s a shattering reality hit.
Thirty-somethings are no longer immune to the mid-life crisis.
Brace yourself. Your lifestyle is about to hit the wall. Or is it?
According to a British survey of 2000 respondents, 35-44 year olds are the unhappiest – reporting career anxiety, loneliness and relationship troubles.
READ MORE: Mid-life anxiety hits a younger crowd
The survey directed blame at the shift in work culture. Basically – if you are less than halfway up the ladder by 35, chances are you’ll never sit in the CEO’s chair.
Adelaide clinical and organisational psychologist Darryl Cross, quoted in The Australian yesterday, says the report reflects “the myth propagated that success equals power and achievement.”
But CareerOne Editor Kate Southam says it’s crazy to measure your career success on whether or not you become CEO or a “C” level executive.
She speaks about meeting CEOs as young as 23 while also pointing out that many of us just practice “career by accident” – we just wait and see what comes our way.
BLOG: What’s your definition of success?
The average age of a CEO in Australia has reduced from 59 to 48 in the last generation. So is this the result of ageism infecting our workplaces?
Australia is ageist against mature-age workers, according to a new report.
Age discrimination – exposing the hidden barrier for mature age workers, paints a picture of exclusion, ill informed assumptions and even humiliation for older people in Australia.
And the Australian Human Rights Commission warns the nation will pay an economic and a social price for its prejudice.
The Commissioner responsible for Age Discrimination Elizabeth Broderick told CareerOne.com.au Australia needed a social movement not unlike the women’s movement to free us from our mindset.
“We need social change within the community. [Ageism] doesn’t just exist – it thrives,” she says.
The fact that “mature age workers” are defined by the Australian government as 45 and older perhaps is contributing to these early mid-life crises.
READ MORE: Report labels Australia ‘ageist’
Ageism is sadly not the only player in the world of workplace tension.
Disputes are sweeping Australian workplaces with working days lost to inter-office conflict increasing by 30 per cent since the Fair Work Act was introduced in 2009.
Gadens Lawyers workplace relations partner John-Anthony Hodgens says employees are more willing to take action than before the global economic crisis.
“We now have a general protection provision in the FWA which basically allows an employee to apply for a restraining order or compensation if he or she feels the employer acts in a way that infringes their workplace rights.
READ MORE: Workplace tug-of-war
While we are on the issue of inter-workplace conflicts, a tribunal has warned workers there could be consequences if they post negative comments about their bosses on Facebook.
A hairdresser Sally-Anne Fitzgerald won some reprieve last week after being sacked over a Facebook comment about her employer last February.
The Facebook posting was one of four reasons for her dismissal but Ms Fitzgerald argued the posting was a communication only among her Facebook “friends”.
READ MORE: Hairdresser sacked for Facebook post wins job back
Next Thursday is RUOK? Day, a day when we are encouraged to reach out and connect with people by asking a simple question.
RUOK? Day was set up in 2009 by the three sons of a successful management consultant who committed suicide.
According to the RUOK? Day website “stress and depression are the largest contributors to lost productivity in Australia, directly costing employers an estimated $10.11 billion a year.
The non-profit organisation advocates that “if someone’s doing it tough, the simple act of asking ‘Are you OK?’, can help stop little problems getting bigger.”
The RUOK? Day websites has lots of tips on how to ask the question, how to respond if someone you know is in need of a helping hand, and how to get your workplace involved.
