Abstract

Demographics and globalizing influences demand that the domiciliary aged care and other industries be vigilant with regard to retaining their workforces. The best strategy for retaining workers is identified as ‘job embeddedness’. This depends on employers engaging closely with employees and relating accurately to their motivations with regard to both employment and community. Generational diversity in the workforce and the different values and motivations of the different generations will require careful targeting on the part of employers implementing a job embeddedness policy. This may result in the use of different strategies for different generations in employment. The public service is accountable to citizens of the state through parliament, for both the processes and outcomes of its work. However, the public service is frequently seen as experiencing internal conflicts of interest which are often represented as being politically partisan in nature. Hence if implementation of a job embeddedness policy is to avoid accusations of partisan influence, both government and community must support selective targeting of different groups of employees, in ways that are transparently fair.