The Algorithm Age

The head of Ofsted has hinted his inspection report overhaul could affect house prices for people living near schools. Sir Martyn Oliver said Ofsted ratings can change local house prices by tens of thousands of pounds, because parents ‘value’ them so much. However, under his new system, the old overall judgements of ‘outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate’ will be scrapped. Instead, from November, schools will get a more ‘nuanced’ report card, with ratings issued on a set of up to 10 different areas. Speaking about the impact, Sir Martyn acknowledged it will stop property websites such as Rightmove selling houses using ‘outstanding ratings’ for local schools. He said: ‘Here's a burning question, what's Rightmove going to do? It’s a serious point.’ Asked if the changes would ‘affect house prices’, he replied: ‘I don't know. However, the former ‘super-head’, who has turned around failing schools, added: ‘I do know, that… I ended up spo...

By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON () -U.S. private payrolls fell for the first time in more than two years in June as economic uncertainty hampered hiring, but low layoffs continued to anchor the labor market. Private payrolls dropped by 33,000 jobs last month, the first decline since March 2023, after a downwardly revised increase of 29,000 in May, the ADP National Employment Report showed on Wednesday. Economists polled by had forecast the report would show private employment increasing by 95,000 following a previously reported gain of 37,000 in May. There were job losses in the professional and business services, education and health services, and financial activities sectors. But the leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, and construction industries added jobs. The ADP report, jointly developed with the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, was published ahead of the more comprehensive employment report for June due to be released on Thursday by the Labor Department's Bureau...

Real estate agent trained over the course of weeks Now he earns almost $300,000-a-year READ MORE: Why Aussies have erupted at a pair of glamorous real estate agents A young real estate agent is pulling in $300,000 in his second year — and he only needed a three-day course to begin. Ethan Forbes, who is based in Baringa on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland , was stopped while on the beach and asked how much he makes in his role. He said he 'accidentally fell' into real estate, joking that it was for the 'wrong reasons'. 'I had a mate who was in it. He had the watch, the car, and I was like, I just want to be like that,' he said. Mr Forbes, who works for LJ Hooker's branch in Caloundra, said he took home $130,000 in his first year as an agent. '[I earned] $291,000 in GIC [Gross Commission Income] so probably took home $130,000, but that was working six to seven days a week, 12-hour days, with no holi...

Finn Sugars is just one of many year 12 students trying to figure out his next chapter in life before his upcoming graduation. "I think I want to go to university, but I want to go into data analytics and finance in agriculture," he said. "I also see a future in helping farmers with what they should purchase and crop." Finn is enrolled in the recently developed Agribusiness ATAR course at Guildford Grammar, to equip year 11 and 12 students with practical knowledge and technical skills needed for modern careers as the farming workforce ages. "So far we've learnt about free-trade agreements with different countries, how Australia sits in international markets, things like that," Finn said. He added that being surrounded by boarders sparked his curiosity around agriculture, considering he didn't grow up on a farm. "I've been able to visit places like Corrigin, to understand more about sheep, th...

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has urged Britons to have more children because of the “worrying repercussions” of a plummeting birth rate. What she seems to be forgetting is that not everyone sees having kids as the ultimate goal. I certainly don’t. In an article for The Telegraph, Phillipson stated that too many young couples were hesitant to have children due to the high costs involved. Finances have influenced my decision not to have children. As a freelance writer I was never going to be a high earner – I have never been ambitious nor hungry enough to make a lot of cash – and I vividly remember watching my parents struggle with money throughout my childhood. They didn’t have much outside help, so to keep childcare costs down, my parents worked shifts, with my dad starting work at 6am and finishing at 2pm, coming home in time to wave my mum off to work for the rest of the day. It meant they barely saw each other except for weekends. But it’s not just abou...

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has urged Britons to have more children because of the “worrying repercussions” of a plummeting birth rate. What she seems to be forgetting is that not everyone sees having kids as the ultimate goal. I certainly don’t. In an article for The Telegraph, Phillipson stated that too many young couples were hesitant to have children due to the high costs involved. Finances have influenced my decision not to have children. As a freelance writer I was never going to be a high earner – I have never been ambitious nor hungry enough to make a lot of cash – and I vividly remember watching my parents struggle with money throughout my childhood. They didn’t have much outside help, so to keep childcare costs down, my parents worked shifts, with my dad starting work at 6am and finishing at 2pm, coming home in time to wave my mum off to work for the rest of the day. It meant they barely saw each other except for weekends. But it’s not just abou...

Accountants among jobs to be in high demand Demand to remain despite rapid AI progression READ MORE: The occupations AI is set to replace soon White collar jobs typically paying six-figures salaries are expected to be in short supply by 2030 despite quantum advances in artificial intelligence. The Future Skills Organisation predicted accountants, financial advisers, IT managers, chief executives and bank workers would have the biggest skills gap within five years, even though AI promises to do many thought-based, analytical tasks. These jobs have average taxable incomes in the six figures, or at least close to it, and are expected to be in even more demand despite rapid technological advances with large language models. 'Australia faces a projected shortfall of almost 250,000 skilled workers across finance, technology, and business by 2030,' the Future Skills Organisation said in its Workforce Plan 2025. ...

Aussie regrets studying at university She has to pay off more than $50,000 HECS debt READ MORE: Proof young Aussies have never had it worse A young business graduate has claimed her degree was 'not worth it' after discovering her HECS debt has ballooned to more than $50,000. Perth woman Pascal Zoghbi, 22, told Yahoo she regretted studying a Bachelor of Business and majoring in marketing at the University of Western Australia . She said her debt was around $48,000 when she graduated in 2023 and believed the figure was slowly growing smaller due to compulsory repayments from her salary. 'Because I knew I was paying it off, I genuinely thought it would be at least under $50,000,' she said. 'The fact that I saw it back to $50,000, if not more - that was shocking. 'I was like, "Are you serious?" Literally everything that I have paid is just now back again.' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese...

Aussie regrets studying at university She has to pay off more than $50,000 HECS debt READ MORE: Proof young Aussies have never had it worse A young business graduate has claimed her degree was 'not worth it' after discovering her HECS debt has ballooned to more than $50,000. Perth woman Pascal Zoghbi, 22, told Yahoo she regretted studying a Bachelor of Business and majoring in marketing at the University of Western Australia . She said her debt was around $48,000 when she graduated in 2023 and believed the figure was slowly growing smaller due to compulsory repayments from her salary. 'Because I knew I was paying it off, I genuinely thought it would be at least under $50,000,' she said. 'The fact that I saw it back to $50,000, if not more - that was shocking. 'I was like, "Are you serious?" Literally everything that I have paid is just now back again.' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese...

I’ve always had a visceral relationship with time. I want to live a thousand lives in one, enriched with experiences of all kinds. My 20s were about travel and freedom; my early 30s about building my business and moving to New York City. Once I turned 35, that was my cue to start our fertility journey . As ambitious career women, we’re told we have time, especially with modern science. Build your career, travel the world, buy a house and get married then have kids. But life (and reproduction) isn’t always linear. Enter egg freezing. Is it a way for women to ‘have it all’ – the career, the financial security and the perfect timing – or is there more to it? According to IVF Australia, there has been a 1500 per cent increase in the number of women in Australia and New Zealand freezing their eggs in the past decade, a figure which has doubled in the past three years alone. Andrea Syrtash, a relationship expert and founder of infertility plat...

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has unveiled the highest-paying jobs in the country, providing key insights into the income distribution across various professions. According to tax return data for the 2022-2023 financial year, medical professionals dominate the list, with surgeons and anaesthetists leading the way. However, financial dealers and CEOs are also among the highest earners, reflecting the diversity in Australia’s top professions. This data highlights the increasing earning potential for individuals working in specialized roles, particularly in the medical and financial sectors. For those interested in career development, understanding which sectors offer the highest salaries can provide valuable guidance in choosing future career paths. Surgeons and Anaesthetists: Leading the Pack Surgeons are the highest earners in Australia, with an average annual salary of $472,475 for the 2022-2023 financial year. This figure represents more than six...

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has unveiled the highest-paying jobs in the country, providing key insights into the income distribution across various professions. According to tax return data for the 2022-2023 financial year, medical professionals dominate the list, with surgeons and anaesthetists leading the way. However, financial dealers and CEOs are also among the highest earners, reflecting the diversity in Australia’s top professions. This data highlights the increasing earning potential for individuals working in specialized roles, particularly in the medical and financial sectors. For those interested in career development, understanding which sectors offer the highest salaries can provide valuable guidance in choosing future career paths. Surgeons and Anaesthetists: Leading the Pack Surgeons are the highest earners in Australia, with an average annual salary of $472,475 for the 2022-2023 financial year. This figure represents more than six...

A mid all the talk about the state of our economy , little noticed and even less discussed was June’s employment data . It showed that the unemployment rate for recent college graduates stood at 5.8%, topping the national level for the first and only its 45-year historical record. It’s an alarming number that needs to be considered in the context of a recent warning from Dario Amodei, CEO of AI juggernaut Anthropic, who predicted artificial intelligence could wipe out half of all entry-level, white-collar-jobs and spike unemployment to 10-20% in the next one to five years. The upshot: our college graduates’ woes could be just the tip of the spear. The warning is playing out in real-, right before our eyes.  As someone who has spent nearly half a century as a professional risk manager, every alarm bell in my being is ringing, and they should be in yours, too. Frighteningly, Washington doesn’t seem to be hearing anything because buried in the Trump administrati...