The debate over the necessity and merit of university degrees has been re-started after comments from the head of a leading education research body, which is soon to host a debate on the topic that degrees may be “grossly overrated”. So do young people need to pursue degrees to achieve the best career, and do employers need university-taught graduates?

Dr Tom Karmel, managing director of the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), said this week there was a risk in greater numbers of people pursuing university degrees who wouldn’t get a “good return” from it.

The NCVER is staging a debate on the topic in Adelaide in July, asking if increased number of Australians with a degree makes us a “clever country, or merely a “credentialed country”?

It’s an interesting debate to explore, especially from an employer perspective, with many practical skills commonly taught in vocational education or through apprenticeships currently highly in demand.

Data from the 2006 census shows the employment participation and unemployment rates for people with bachelor degrees and people with Certificate III or IV qualifications to be remarkably similar. In fact, the employment participation rate for vocational education graduates was marginally higher.

While the average graduate wage in some degree-qualified industries is higher, such as medicine, dentistry and legal, many Certificate III or IV graduates still do favourably in areas such as plumbing, electrical and engineering than many other university-educated professions.

The Federal Government currently has a target of increasing the proportion of 25 to 34-year-olds with a university degree to 40 per cent by 2025 (currently the level is about 35 per cent). But it must be careful at the same time that by increasing university enrolments and, in some cases, lowering entry requirements that a glut of students are introduced to the university system that would be better off pursuing other types of qualifications.

With a great strain on university student services and careers support, this could potentially lead to higher rates of deferrals and drop outs.

To answer the question originally posed, while we would disagree with the sentiment that university degrees are “overrated”, the question is a reminder that degrees may not always be the most appropriate qualification for many young people, and attractive career paths can be achieved through vocational education.

Our workforce must continue to be a diverse mix to ensure we have the right knowledge and skills to address economic challenges, and we must continue to balance and promote diverse further education pathways – as well as the vital importance of staying in school, which is instrumental to our future.

What’s your opinion on the university degree debate? Let us know.

The Gonski review of funding for schooling has been two years in the making and eagerly anticipated, and the early reaction from stakeholders and Government has been mixed.

The key recommendations propose a revised funding model which will have significant funding implications for all governments, as the report identifies at least $5 billion is required to address issues around student disadvantage and performance issues. At the same time the Commonwealth is stipulating that no school loses a dollar in funding.

The report will now be referred to the Council of Australian Governments to consider how modelling of a new funding system will work in practice. Feedback will be sought from principals, parents and unions whilst public forums will engage parents and the community.

There are several concerns for business and industry in the final report.

The major one is that the terms of reference did not mention engagement with industry to consider business concerns with the outcomes of the education system. None of the recommendations or key findings relate to business issues.

The closest recommendation to do so is the last one, which relates to how schools can engage more closely with individuals or business in how more funding can be accessed to build on the $11 billion currently contributed to the education system through philanthropy.

The report does acknowledge that over the last 10 years Australia has slipped dramatically in comparison to OECD countries in student performance in literacy & numeracy, science and maths. The latest National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results for 2011 indicate that Australian and Victorian performance is not improving.

Indeed, analysis indicates that results have been flat for four years and are in fact regressing. Reduced enrolments in maths, sciences and second languages are also of concern because of the implications in meeting workforce skill needs in the years ahead.

This is not a tolerable situation. The push over the last four years for national curriculum reform has not had any impact and will not be fully implemented for several years. Meanwhile, the adverse impact of a dysfunctional education system continues to leave its mark on the Victorian workforce with around 56 per cent of workers having Language, Literacy & Numeracy (LLN) difficulties. The illiterate worker of today is the illiterate school leaver of yesterday.

VECCI is also extremely concerned about youth disengagement from school education.  The report does not address this crucial issue in its 41 recommendations, but in Finding 25 it notes “schools are responsible for supporting students who are unable to remain within a school, and should have welfare policies that seek to find the most appropriate learning environment for their needs”. This is just not acceptable. The report does not address the key issues around how our education system can be radically reformed to achieve better outcomes.

A system that does not focus curriculum frameworks on meeting both potential employer and student needs is a system destined to keep repeating the mistakes of the past – as a society we will continue to see school leavers populating the workforce with significant deficiencies in LLN skills.

The report does not address how Vocational Education & Training contributes to either student capability or how it underpins better student outcomes. It does not raise the role of Trade Training Centres and the millions of dollars invested in these resources to see them sitting idle. And it certainly does not address the need for improved career development strategies, which will lead to improved student outcomes.

A highly competitive, skilled and innovative workforce is required to ensure the ongoing growth of future jobs. A strong and responsive education system is crucial to meet this outcome. Employers and industry must be involved in future discussions to ensure these crucial and fundamental issues are addressed.

Your input to these issues will ensure that the voice of Victorian industry is heard.

Further comment can be provided to Andrew Rimington, Senior Manager, Policy at arimington@vecci.org.au - or have your say below in comments.

There has been much written and spoken on the potential skills shortage that will be felt in Australia over the coming years, especially as Baby Boomers begin to retire from full time work.

A new discussion paper has examined some of the effects this skills shortage may have on Australian industries, and warns that no-one will be exempt from it.

Deloitte’s ‘Where is your next worker?’ report declares the skills shortage to be the biggest issue for businesses to face in the immediate and long-term future, and predicts higher interest rates, higher inflation and a wages blowout as some of the possible consequences.

The report also contains some recommendations for how businesses and governments can minimise the skills shortage’s effect on productivity.

From a business perspective, recommendations include:

• Engaging students at their place of learning and getting them involved in work practices earlier in order to capture the best talent as soon as possible
• Focus on improving their internal training
• Exploring the concept of ‘crowdsourcing’ – effectively placing an open call online to identify solutions to a problem, including people who aren’t necessarily employees
• Exploring new ways to keep 55 to 70-year-olds employed or engaged with work, and increasing their focus on people with disabilities, immigrants and Indigenous people
• Increasing the number of ‘teleworking’ arrangements to allow employees to work from home
• Strategies for increased employee engagement.

From a government and policy point of view, there were calls in the report to:

• Retaining overseas students in Australia after completing their education, and used skilled migrants to “plug the gaps”
• “Provide responsible leadership” to educate the wider public about the economic benefits of offshoring (services that can be delivered remotely)
• Encourage workforce participation beyond traditional retirement age
• Developing incentives for organisations that invest in retraining programs for women returning to work
• Proceeding with the national curriculum and spending more on teacher training
• Addressing unnecessary regulations and red tape.

Deloitte CEO Giam Swiegers said some of the ideas contained in the report were politically sensitive, but unless they were made, the effect of skills shortages would worsen.

However businesses could help to define their own path by undertaking some of the initiatives listed above, Mr Sweigers said, regardless of what governments did.

Has your business undertaken any specific initiatives to minimise the impact of the skills shortage on your company? If so, we’d love to hear them.

Nearly every deep discussion about Australia’s future makes some mention of the country’s ageing population, as the Baby Boomers transition into retirement.

But one of Australia’s leading chief executives has warned we’re dispensing of our experienced workers too quickly, at the detriment of the nation’s productivity.

Giam Swiegers, chief executive officer of the Australian division of financial services giant Deloitte, told a luncheon this week that older leaders are being dumped prematurely for younger CEOs, leading to organisations denying themselves much needed experience and wisdom at the top.

Swiegers said a generation of leaders between 55 and 70 were now being overlooked, with only a third of people in that age bracket now employed.

The statistic seems bewildering, considering how much older employees have to offer a workplace, and not just at board or executive level.

Employees over 50 have many positive attributes – they tend to stay with a company for longer, are more experienced critical thinkers and willing to learn or update their skills. As an example of this, people aged between 55 and 64 are the fastest growing users of information technology in Australia.

Australian companies will become far more dependent on older workers in the coming years; therefore, implementing age friendly employment strategies with flexible working conditions and supportive work environments will reap rewards. Thirty-one per cent of the workforce in 2010 was aged 45 and over – this compares to 17 per cent being aged 25 and under.

The numbers suggest that instead of dispensing of older employees, we should be utilising their skills and expertise now more than we ever have before.

Do you think there is older workers are being underutilised in Australia, and if so, what can be done to reverse the trend? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

The Government’s Sustainable Australia- Sustainable Communities Strategy is a valued and welcomed contribution to the population debate; but the report does not go far enough and falls short of living up to its objective of providing a holistic, sustainable population strategy.

The development of sustainability indicators for communities will improve public policy development and implementation, and, the Federal Budget’s significant contributions to improved sustainable planning in urban and regional communities are worthwhile investments that will ease current and future growth pains.

Providing a greater emphasis on the urban and natural environment and sustainability issues, along with the quality of our community experiences, is an important contribution to the debate, and adds to the range of indicators previously examined in Treasury’s Intergenerational Reports.

The Strategy also makes important points in refuting some of the claims of no-growth advocates, for instance by “decoupling [greenhouse gas] emissions from Population Growth”.

To set a target or not?

Population Minister Tony Burke is right when he says that the population strategy is not about setting an optimal population target and that it is also about where and how people live.  

But equally, a population strategy is not just about short-term regional migration or urban planning; which seems to be the main focus of the report. A genuine population strategy should be looking at the future needs of not just individual communities, but the whole of Australia.

While we shouldn’t be setting a target – we should be acknowledging that, as former Queensland Premier Wayne Goss stated on ABC’s 7.30 this week: “people have got to be told the facts… We are heading for 35 million”.

Australia faces economic and social choices that will have a determinant impact on our economy and our communities over the coming decades. We need to be realistic about the likely growth in our population and how it contributes to the type of Australia that we want to have.

What the strategy is missing

A population strategy should examine the nation’s realistic estimated medium-term needs – and the projected long-term needs as well – in areas such as public services, economic and fiscal management, industrial and service sector trends, labour demand, environmental protection, national security and infrastructure renewal and investment.

It must also look at how our society will respond to the unprecedented shift in the demographics of our population, which will for the first time in human history see a significant share consist of the old and very old aged.

This should then become the basis on which we make decisions, through a mature and informed public debate, on various options for planned and sustainable growth at a community level, as well as a national level.

While initiatives such as the National Food Plan will contribute to this, there are many other areas that will not be covered.

It’s important that we do not conflate the challenge of long term population planning for the future with contemporary short term bottlenecks. Nor should we make the erroneous assumption that just because we’re experiencing difficulties resulting from growth influxes occurring in tandem with an under-investment in infrastructure, that this will always be the case.

The lesson we should be taking away from the current challenges is that we need to continue to make sound investments in economic and social infrastructure to meet the future population that we decide that we want.

The importance of growth

Equally, we should recognise that we don’t have to choose between population growth and high quality liveability and environmental sustainability – we can have both.

In fact, it’s important that we are honest and acknowledge that it is likely that we won’t be able to maintain our current living standards, let alone improve them, without growing our population over the coming decades. 

If we allow our population to either stabilise at current levels or decline – as some would have us do – economic growth will also likely decline as well, along with our standard of living. The only thing that can militate against this would be a vast improvement in workforce participation combined with an unheralded increase in workforce productivity.  

Even with the Government’s welfare-to-work and skills measures in last week’s Budget – which are positive and critical social and economic reforms – the ageing population will make it very difficult to main participation levels over the decades ahead without skilled migration.

What needs to be done now

Australia is running up against a fast approaching demographic clock, and the window is getting smaller in which we can make prudent and affordable investment in infrastructure, while also making medium and long term plans for growth.

By 2025, the Baby Boomers will have exited the workforce, and at the same time international competition for highly skilled migrants will be more intense as western nations seek to offset their own ageing populations.

If we leave it too long, we could miss out on attracting the best and brightest to enhance our economy and our communities, and leave vital investment to a point where we are paying an unnecessary premium.

While it’s understandable that the Government’s political imperative is to take the ‘heat’ out of the population debate, it must also be mindful that such an approach risks Australia falling further behind in the necessary planning, and public debate, that will be required to ensure that we’re able to take effective advantage of an increasingly globalised world and global skilled workforce to meet our ongoing social and economic needs.

We should not tie our hands behind our backs to avoid engaging in debate and raising the implications of both high as well as low growth futures for the country. It’s vital that the population strategy leads to a fully informed choice on the type of Australia we want for the future.

As the Prime Minister was foreshadowing tougher welfare rules in the upcoming Budget in order to shift more people into the labour market, the building and construction industry officially entered “skill shortage” status.

While the Prime Minister didn’t detail any specific proposals, we all share the underlying sentiments expressed: that we must ensure all Australians benefit from the resources boom.

However, taking a ‘stick’ approach to welfare reform is not enough, and must be balanced with the right ‘carrots’ to support and enable efforts by job seekers, as well as business. A bidding war between the Government and the Opposition over who is the toughest is not the answer.

Pressure on the economy

The inability to supply sufficient skilled labour to satisfy the major resource projects is putting pressure – through higher wages and the appreciation of the dollar – on other sectors of the economy and, it should be noted, on the traditional industries that employ disadvantaged job seekers.

To relieve this pressure, we need to supply more skilled workers to the resource sector and other strained industries. However, there is no spare capacity left in the labour market to meet this demand.

While it sounds straight forward to meet skills demand by getting current job seekers to fill vacant positions, this fails to take into account – as VECCI CEO Wayne Kayler-Thomson made clear last week – the specific skills required that take years to develop, and the lack of basic literacy, numeracy and other employability skills among many disadvantaged job seekers.

To avoid inflation and overheating of parts of the economy – and to create sustainable levels of employment growth – Australia must respond with a combination of improved workforce productivity, streamlined access to skilled migration for business, and most importantly, lifting workforce participation.

However, populist opposition to population growth has limited the Government’s ability to fully utilise skilled migration as a policy option.

This makes improving workforce participation and productivity all the more critical to address not only social inclusion and skill objectives, but also long term population ageing challenges. If we don’t improve our efforts now, Australia could potentially have a shortfall of 1.4 million workers in as little as 15 years.

We need to improve employment rates for the low skilled unemployed, disengaged youth, mature aged people, persons with disability, Indigenous people and women, while also upgrading the skills of existing workers to improve productivity.

Yet this requires regulatory reforms coupled with investment in training, both of which pose their own political challenges.

Possible solutions

The Government has so far shown no indication that it’s willing to consider changes to labour laws and other regulations to make it easier for employers to create jobs, while downgraded economic growth projections limit public spending options.

But there are some promising signals coming from the Gillard Government.

The Henry Taxation Review made a range of recommendations to create incentives for people to shift from welfare to work and address the costs of undertaking education and training.

It is therefore encouraging that the Government is considering new approaches to retain older Australians in the workforce by lifting their tax free threshold and allowing people to earn more before their pension payments are phased out. Similar approaches are needed for those on welfare to creative positive incentives to work.

Foundation skills are also critically important to getting job seekers into work and further study.

Too many students are leaving school, and in some cases university, without appropriate literacy and numeracy skills. The Government’s NAPLAN tests, My School website, and policies to improve performance and accountability in the school system are critical to get more young people into work and further study.

But while tests and websites are important tools, they’re useless if not used to drive ongoing changes and achieve better outcomes through performance management of teachers and directing resources to areas of need.

The Government has initiated a number of programs to support adult skills development, including 140,000 places for adult literacy and foundation skills. This is a good start, however, when we have estimates of 8 million workers needing further help, a lot more needs to be done.

The Gillard Government is currently considering its response to an Expert Panel Report into reforming Australia’s apprenticeship system – which is the main, and most effective, vehicle for delivering skills development.  

However, proposals to impose on employers a levy, new registration and compliance requirements, along with arbitrarily lifting apprentice wage rates and conditions, would do little to improve training quality or completion rates, and would likely see lower rates of apprenticeship commencements.

Partnerships needed between employers and governments

While the Government has ruled out an employer levy, it’s important that support for all industries to engage in nationally accredited training be maintained.

Employers are willing to do their part, but they can’t do it on their own – they don’t have the expertise or the resources to assist job seekers with serious and complex needs, which range from lack of employability skills to overcoming personal hardships.

While the ACTU has been vocal in arguing that employers should take up more of the cost of training workers, it ignores the significant contribution already made by 90 per cent of employers to training workers and investing in the skills development of their local communities.

When it comes to effective welfare reform, the Government should not attempt to shift the burden to employers. What’s required are genuine partnerships with industry.

VECCI has worked with the Victorian and Australian Government for a number of years to improve workforce participation opportunities for school students, migrants, mature aged job seekers, persons with disability and Indigenous Australians. These types of efforts should be maintained and extended to deliver real outcomes for employers and disadvantaged Australians.

Real reform will take major changes to welfare, taxation, job search support and our training systems. This will not be easy or cheap, but sincere efforts by political leaders to lift participation and productivity will win the support of industry and the wider community.

The Federal Government has confirmed it is implementing all 31 recommendations made in the ‘Resourcing the Future’ report released last year, in order to support Australia’s crucial resources sector.

While the majority of resource project investments being made are occurring outside of Victoria, these will inevitably have a national impact given their huge demand for skilled labour.

Western Australia, with an unemployment rate of just 3.8 per cent, faces not only a skills shortage but a dramatic shortage of workers across all of its industry sectors. This pushes up wages to levels where non-resource sectors in other states, such as Victoria, cannot compete and are unable to retain their own trade and professional qualified workers.

The agreement between the resource sector and the Government will alleviate the pressures that are being created by the huge skills demand of large mining projects by lifting skills development within the sector itself.

Among the recommendations now being adopted by the Government are the trials of “alternative apprenticeship models” to boost the number of qualified people in occupations where skills shortages are expected. Some of the approaches include accelerated learning, stronger pre-apprenticeships and companies training apprentices on another company’s behalf.

The report also urged greater priority to be placed on ‘upskilling’ existing workers and officially recognising the prior learning of construction workers without qualifications, to help them achieve full trade status or to undertake a fast-tracked “adult apprenticeship”.

Adult apprentices are already employed by a number of companies, and these apprenticeships are seen by many as a more attractive option because the employee is more mature and has more life and work experience.

Skills Minister Senator Chris Evans said the Government backed the concept of adult apprenticeships, with 1,000 workers able to obtain a full trade qualification within 18 months under a fast-tracked competency based approach.

“Existing resource sector employees and workers from across Australia will be recruited and on and off-the-job training provided so companies will benefit immediately from a boost to their workforces,” Senator Evans said.

The Government has opened the $200 million Critical Skills Investment Fund to, together with employers, provide the training to skill and upskill workers for resources jobs.

Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said 39,000 extra skilled workers would be added to the workforce over the next four years due to the investment.

The announcement also included plans to streamline and speed up the sector’s access to skilled workers through 457 visas, a critical element to ensure that mega-projects are able to meet their skilled labour needs, given that the sector needs an additional 77,500 workers by 2015. (“Labor fast-tracks training in deal with miners”, The Australian Financial Review, 16 March 2011)

These actions will go some way to alleviate the skills shortage many employers are already beginning to feel, and will reduce the pressure on Victorian businesses that are struggling to compete with the resource sector to retain their skilled workers.

The Australian Government is in the process of considering 14 recommendations made in the controversial ‘Apprenticeships for the 21st Century Expert Panel Paper‘, which seeks to make broad changes to our national apprenticeships system.

Have your say! Business owners, please vote in our blog poll.

The Panel was instructed to “examine apprenticeship training arrangements, including current incentives, and suggest principles and evidence to improve outcomes for both apprentices and industry”.

The outcome of the Taskforce is a 130 page report that seeks to achieve this by focusing resources on improving the quality of apprenticeship outcomes in critical skill areas.

However, some of the recommendations are controversial and potentially damaging to industry and employers, as they involve picking winners.

According to the report, those industries and apprenticeships that are considered of high economic value will get priority, while those considered of lesser economic importance will receive less resources and support from the Australian Government’s Apprenticeship Employer Incentive Scheme.

The recommendations would place greater administrative requirements on employers, particularly the requirement that employers go through an accreditation process before they’re able to recruit an apprentice or trainee.

The Taskforce also believes that low wage rates are a significant disincentive for young people to go into, and complete, apprenticeships. Therefore it recommends that modern award rates should be reviewed, and that prior learning and skills should be taken into consideration in setting pay rates.

Under the recommendations put forward by the Taskforce, some sectors would see an increase in government financial support, and there would also be greater support in the form of mentors to guide apprentices throughout their training.

However, the same recommendations, if implemented, could also lead to higher wage costs for employers, and limit the financial support received by many to offset the cost of training. 

It’s likely this will ultimately impact on the ability of business to train Australian workers.

VECCI believes that reform is needed to Australia’s national training system. However, we are concerned that the Taskforce Paper will not meet its stated objectives if implemented.  

It’s important to ensure that the interests of business, particularly SMEs, are considered by the Australian Government as it prepares its response to the Paper.  

To assist us in this process, we invite you to answer the following questions.

So, you’ve got qualified staff and enthusiastic apprentices who play a valuable role in your tourism or hospitality business, but how do you keep them?

Research indicates many apprentices won’t finish their training and one of the reasons given for this is the age of apprentices, with 30 per cent aged between 15 and 19. But rather than getting itchy feet, many won’t finish their training because they just don’t see it as being a real career.

A recent article provides some ideas on how you can retain those apprentices you have spent so much time and money in recruiting and training. These include:

• Keeping apprentices enthused by identifying young people who show promise and rewarding them with increased responsibilities.
• Rewarding achievements with a salary increase or other incentives.
• Giving away a weekend at another venue.
• Swapping incentives with another business within a similar industry.

From a state perspective Tourism Victoria has developed the Victorian Tourism Workforce Development Plan (2010 – 2016) that recognises the issues businesses face in relation to skills shortages and staff retention and the plan promises to address key challenges within the industry. The challenges facing the tourism, hospitality and events industries as identified in this Workforce Development Plan are:

• Making tourism and hospitality a career of choice
• Supporting sustainable workforce structures
• Retaining quality people
• Growing the tourism workforce
• Training and skilling the tourism workforce
• Supporting small business excellence
• Growing the tourism workforce in regional Victoria

Approximately 170,000 people or six per cent of the Victorian workforce were employed in the accommodation and food services industries in 2009 and while employment growth is expected to be moderate in the next two years, the longer term outlook is positive for the industry.

Many businesses in the industry experience similar issues with retaining qualified staff. What are some of the methods you use to keep staff that you can share with other businesses?

By The Editor

Never underestimate the power of a satisfying lunch hour. It can improve your overall job satisfaction and your work performance. Plus, making time for a little R&R will help you become a better co-worker. No one wants to work with Mr or Ms McGrumpy. People want to connect with you on a personal level, and having fun excursions to talk about will make you more approachable and help you bond with your co-workers.

Shaking up your routine can also be an amazing source of energy and inspiration. If you are stuck in the middle of a big project, you may unknowingly adopt self-imposed limits and lose your creative edge. Taking a break can give you fresh eyes. Those lightning bolt ideas often strike when you’re busy doing something non-work related. So step away from your desk and take time for you. You’ll be grateful you did. Here are ten ideas to get you started.

Play a sport

Get outside. Play volleyball, tennis, or even ping pong. Throw a Frisbee. Playing sports is an ideal way to bond with co-workers. You may not have much in common with them, but when you’re playing a sport, it doesn’t matter. You’ll be laughing and smiling before you know it.

Go for a walk

If you’re looking for some solo time, try something simple like going for a walk. It doesn’t cost anything, but it will lift your spirits and clear your head. Poke around a nearby neighbourhood and soak in the sights. Noticing all the different people around you can help put things in perspective. Your workplace is just a small drop in the bucket. Even though it may feel all-consuming at times, there is so much more out there.

Get a massage

Just do it! You know you want one. Getting a massage is like buying a little piece of heaven. It’s that amazing. If you’re hesitant to invest a lot of money and time, go for a chair massage. They’re offered in some pharmacies, grocery stores and malls. A chair massage can sometimes feel even more amazing than a traditional sixty minute massage because you really savour every second of it.

Catch up with a friend

You may think you never have time to catch up with all your buddies, but what about lunch? Even if they live in a different city, schedule a phone date. Having a great conversation with someone you know and trust is a hundred times better than anything you’ll find in the vending machine.

Relax in a coffee shop

Coffee shops have it all – an eclectic mix of people, funky art, cool music, comfy chairs, and the most beloved pick-me-up of all time: caffeine. Whether you feel like staring out the window for a while or working on the next great Australian novel, coffee shops are the place to be.

Save a life

It can be tough to find the time and energy to do the kind of volunteer work you care about. One way to directly help others in a big way is to donate blood. A little effort can go a long way towards helping someone in serious distress. You’ll literally be giving a part of yourself to someone else in need. What a gift.

Get crafty

Find a place where you feel comfortable and break out your knitting needles, crochet hook or scrapbooking materials. It can feel so good to make something unique with your own hands. The rhythmic, meditative qualities of knitting and crochet are a powerful source of stress relief. If you have a friend or co-worker who shares your passion it can be even more fun.

Work out

Making time for exercise can be very difficult, especially if you are a parent. Many people find working out during lunch to be the perfect solution. Go for a run or a swim. Take a yoga class. Ride your bike. Even twenty minutes of exercise can make a big difference in your day. The important thing is to do an exercise that is convenient and enjoyable so you stick with it.

Listen to music

Do you still listen to the same music you listened to ten years ago? You are missing out! Don’t let yourself get stuck in a rut. Use your lunch hour to explore new music. Trade playlists with your friends, or browse a CD store. Check out concert dates and make plans to see your favourite bands live.

Eat something healthy

It’s lunch, after all! Treat yourself to something you know you will truly. Dining out is the perfect opportunity to spend time with friends and co-workers. After a long morning in the office, a change of scenery can make all the difference.