Advocates and industry groups are calling for changes to age pension work rules, arguing they penalise older people who want to keep working. South-east Queensland pensioner Peter Gibney, 71, says the system is stacked against him and his wife, whose pensions fall the more they earn. The Department of Social Services says a single pensioner with no other income can earn up to $526 a fortnight before payments reduce. The Council on the Ageing says about 15 per cent of Australians over 67 are still working, up from 11 per cent in 2021.
Taking short breaks combined with planning work tasks can improve energy, motivation and stress management, according to a University of Queensland study led by Stacey Parker. The study involved 91 participants and analysed more than 600 work hours. Only 6 per cent of hours involved this combined approach, while about 65 per cent involved little energy-management activity. Researcher Scott Pedersen said standing and moving regularly helps reactivate enzymes that protect against metabolic disorders. He suggested setting an hourly timer to prompt movement breaks.
Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, says AI has not improved profits at large companies outside the tech industry. In a recent note, he examined the S&P 493, the S&P 500 excluding seven major tech firms. He found profit margins and revenue per worker were flat, with no sign AI was lifting productivity. Slok argued that businesses will struggle to turn cheaper intelligence into higher revenue and profit. He said AI cannot grasp accountability, trust, culture or fairness, which shape reputational risk and revenue. Recent studies have also found limited productivity gains from AI.
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Former magazine editors Shoshana Berger and Nina Willdorf have founded the Aged Intelligence Society, which hosts invite-only dinner parties where women over 40 learn to use AI tools for midlife problems. Each event caps at roughly eight to 12 guests, and attendees bring a laptop and a personal problem to work through together. Berger says the tools help with caring for ageing parents and managing heavy workloads. The founders say women over 40 are well suited to AI because of their experience and sharp questioning.
A WIRED writer spent a full working day using only the iPhone Duo, Apple's first folding smartphone priced at $1,999, and found the experience more workable than expected. Writing and editing were manageable with a Bluetooth keyboard, a kickstand case and a cursor enabled through AssistiveTouch, though pasting links and quick web searches were slower. The writer criticised iOS for forcing equal 50-50 split-screen views and limiting portrait multitasking. Slack recently added full support for the larger display, and the app-pairing feature was praised.
Researchers say Australia could gain a multibillion-dollar economic boost by 2040 by supporting semiconductor technologies, and are calling for government help. The Semiconductor Sector Service Bureau will release a roadmap with recommendations on Thursday. Its chair, David Skellern, said several Australian companies are already doing world-competitive work with little support. Modelling by Deloitte put the potential gain at $5.3 billion, while leaving constraints unaddressed could cost about $14.7 billion. A spokesperson for Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres said the government recognises the sector's importance.
Small businesses could save time and lift productivity by using artificial intelligence in daily operations, according to a report from The Tech Council of Australia. The research estimates the average small or medium-sized business could gain $136,000 a year by adopting AI broadly to cut administrative work such as payroll and rostering. Only one in four such businesses currently use the technology, and five per cent use it broadly. Kate Cornick said a significant gap exists between what AI could deliver and what small businesses receive.
More than half of senior leaders say AI has made it harder to evaluate employee work, according to a survey of 1,700 directors and managers across seven countries. The survey was commissioned by work-management company Monday.com. Managers say polished AI-assisted output makes it difficult to tell how much came from staff. Many managers also use AI to inform decisions or draft performance reviews, which researchers warn could add bias. Managers report more software tools, growing supervision of AI agents, and worries about losing control over them.
The ACT Government has introduced legislation guaranteeing a public holiday every Anzac Day, with an extra day off when it falls on a weekend. Canberra Business Chamber chief executive Greg Harford supports recognising Anzac Day but opposes the extra Monday holiday. The Chamber estimates lost productivity of $30 million to $35 million a year and higher wage costs for businesses that stay open. Minister Michael Pettersson argues Anzac Day should receive the same treatment as Boxing Day. Debate on the bill has been adjourned to a later sitting.
NAB has announced it will cut 2,500 staff to make the bank simpler and more efficient, with its chief executive saying customer-facing roles will be largely unaffected. ANZ has also flagged job reductions. The writer warns that if other large banks and companies follow, the economy could weaken further. Productivity has fallen, the Reserve Bank has raised interest rates four times this year, and some economists warn that more job losses could bring a recession.
Some economists and union leaders argue that Australia's low productivity figures miss the value of jobs in health, education and care. Emeline Gaske of the Australian Services Union says outcomes for people matter as much as cost and volume. Productivity Commission deputy chair Alex Robson agrees that measurement needs to change as the economy shifts towards services. Toby Phillips of the Centre for Policy Development says research adjusting for outcomes shows stronger productivity growth. Community worker Georgia Harraway-Jones says larger caseloads would produce worse results for clients.
AI company Anthropic says its workforce has shifted in the past year, with fewer junior hires in technical teams. The share of junior technical hires fell from 27% to 9%, and technical teams now make up 56% of staff, down from 61%. Employees report that managing AI tools has become a large part of their work. Meeting time per employee is up 20% on a year ago, which the company links to the value it places on face-to-face coordination.
Research suggests meetings work better when leaders listen more and speak less. Studies by organisational psychologists found that attentive questioning improves team performance, while leaders who talk most often rate their meetings as successful. Researchers recommend setting clear goals, starting on time and allowing informal chat beforehand, especially in virtual meetings. One study of more than 9,000 Norwegian workers linked meeting attendance with wage growth, though it could not prove cause and effect.
Mathias Cormann, secretary general of the OECD, has warned Australia's mainstream parties not to adopt populist policies such as migration caps. In a speech to the Centre for Independent Studies, he said productivity is the only reliable way to lower living costs over the long term. He argued that parties should instead deliver more homes, lower energy costs, real wage growth and a credible budget. Cormann said tariffs would raise costs for farmers, miners and builders, and that migration caps ignore their effects on business, hospitals and universities.
Assistant Minister for Productivity and Competition Andrew Leigh has warned that artificial intelligence could narrow wage gaps between workers while widening the income divide between workers and owners of capital. Speaking at a JPMorgan AI conference, he said a handful of AI companies could become toll collectors for the rest of the economy. He cited a study of more than 5000 customer-support agents, where productivity rose by 15 per cent and about 30 per cent among less-experienced workers.
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Assistant minister Andrew Leigh says a small number of AI companies could become toll collectors for the wider economy, raising overall income inequality even as wage gaps narrow. In an advance excerpt of a speech to a JPMorgan conference, Mr Leigh argues the biggest gains may go to those who own the technology rather than those who use it. He says the risk lies in who gets hired, who owns productive assets and how much surplus firms with market power capture.
Opposition leader Angus Taylor has defended the Coalition's plan to cut net overseas migration to 100,000 as an economic measure to lift productivity. Taylor said migrants should be assessed on their character and conduct, rejecting bans based on country of origin proposed by One Nation. He said the plan would raise the skill level of migrants while reducing overall numbers. Labor has proposed cutting net overseas migration to 225,000 by 2028, while One Nation has proposed capping visas at 130,000 per year.
A growing number of AI agents can be texted to perform tasks like scheduling appointments, organizing calendars, and shopping online. These agents, such as Instinct, Caddy, and Fambot, connect to existing apps and services to complete tasks on behalf of users. While Instinct has gained attention due to its $10 billion valuation, other agents like Caddy and Fambot offer similar functionalities, with some focusing on specific areas like family management or travel planning.
Australia's productivity growth has been sluggish for years, and improving it is crucial for raising living standards. Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock recently described productivity as doing nothing, after the bank lifted interest rates to a 15-year high. In a podcast, Productivity Commission chair Danielle Wood speaks with political editor Tom McIlroy. The conversation covers policy challenges around encouraging AI integration, improving housing affordability and managing the impacts of the climate crisis.
