Media Coverage
Women In Action | Executive Women | Career Mothers
Politicians avoiding the paid maternity leave issue - Just Be founder
Monday 19 November 2007
Shortlist
Paid maternity leave has been "swept under the carpet" as an election issue, by both John Howard and Kevin Rudd, says the founder of specialist women's job board JustBe.com.au.
Just Be managing director Lisa Pititto said 92% of respondents to a Just Be poll said they supported paid maternity leave for women, and 71% also supported paid paternity leave.
Pititto said while baby bonuses and the childcare tax rebate had made headlines, women wanted paid maternity leave, and it was conspicuously absent from the election platforms of either major party.
Rather than waiting for the government to tell them what to do, employers needed to start offering the leave themselves in order to attract more women to the workforce, she said.
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Women's job board partners with parenting website
Tuesday 6 November 2007
Recruiter Daily
Specialist job board for women, JustBe.com.au, has launched a portal providing jobs content on Bub Hub, a pregnancy and parenting website.
The partnership means that employers and recruiters advertising on Just Be will have their jobs able to be seen by a large audience of passive candidates (Bub Hub attracts around 150,000 unique visitors a month).
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Women's job board partners with parenting website
Monday 5 November 2007
Shortlist
JustBe.com.au, the specialist job board for women, today launched a portal providing jobs content on Bub Hub, a pregnancy and parenting website.
Just Be managing director Lisa Pititto said Just Be was currently attracting around 20,000 unique browsers per month, while BubHub.com.au drew more than 150,000.
The partnership meant employers and recruiters which advertised on Just Be would be reaching a large audience of passive candidates, who were interested in roles from entry- to executive-level, and weren't seeking only casual or part-time work.
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Shattering the glass ceiling
Wed 23 May 2007
North Shore Times, Sydney
Just Be - Australia's first job website just for women has entered the on-line employment industry. Executive director Lisa Pititto explains why she set up the site and what she hopes to achieve.
STORY: Janne Seletto
QUESTION: What inspired you to create Just Be?
ANSWER: I've been involved with women's groups for a long time. In 2002 I was voted young business and professional woman of the year and as a result I travelled around Australia for about two years talking to women. I found their needs weren't being met, especially in the country. They didn't know who to talk to to get support, or further their career. Australia is facing a skills shortage and a lot of employers want to get more women into the workplace and redress the gender imbalance in some industries. Employers recognise that women bring a different set of skills and want that diversity, which is crucial to the health of any company.|
Q: What is available at Just Be?
A: We want to create a central portal with jobs, resources and networking opportunities. We have more than 15,000 jobs online including employers such as ANZ, BankWest and IBM. We have 1000 women subscribed already. We provide a lot of career resources for women, like dealing with family issues. We have an online forum where jobseekers can interact, and women who want to job-share can post a notice on the site. There's such a huge group of women who want to job-share, especially people coming back into the workforce.
Q: You said women have a different skill set. What did you mean?
A: Women may bring a different way of looking at things, different problem solving skills and a different perspective. Men and women progress in their careers differently as well. Women tend to be more shy and not so good at promoting themselves. Unfortunately women are still under-represented in many industries and fields, especially at senior management level. We want to target those male-dominated industries, like mining and the trades. We are also targeting mothers who want to re-enter the workforce and executive women looking to shatter the glass ceiling.
Q: Is it going well?
A: Yes. We started last December and we have more than 15,000 jobs on the site and a growing number of subscribers. We're getting comments from them like ``It's about time somebody did this.''
Q: How do I get to you?
A: Just go to www.justbe.com.au
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Just Be: new job site targets women
2 May 2007
HR Report
Career mothers looking to re-enter the workforce or female executives wanting to smash the glass ceiling now have a new job site that specifically targets their needs.
Just Be exec director Lisa Pititto says the site will help employers reach more women and give women access to jobs and the right resources to manage their careers.
“With women now making up almost 45% of the workforce and growing faster than men, Just Be specifically caters to expanding women’s job opportunities and supporting them throughout their careers, beyond the job finding stage,” she said. “Just Be provides women with tailored career resources, tips and information from industry leaders, inspiring stories on other working women, networking and an interactive online forum, along with jobs from employers supporting equal opportunity.”
Just be has more than 7,000 jobs online and a growing database of female subscribers. Major supporters include ANZ, BankWest, IBM, Link Recruitment, Robert Half, Michael Page and major women’s networks such as Women's Network Australia, the Australian Federation of Business & Professional Women and Network Central.
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Specialist website for women launched
1 May 2007
http://www.shortlist.net.au/
A specialist employment site for women was launched this week.
The Just Be site targets women re-entering the workforce and existing professionals looking for executive roles.
The executive director of Just Be, Lisa Pititto, said that the site aimed to provide women with tailored career resources, tips and information from industry leaders, an interactive online forum and jobs from employers supporting equal opportunity.
The site currently has over 7000 jobs online, and is supported by the Women's Network Australia and the Australian Federation of Business & Professional Women.
The site recently received an exemption from the state's Equal Opportunity Act to allow it to run a job board specifically aimed at women.
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Women online
Max Berry
January 27, 2007
The Age
Julia Gillard's comments implying that motherhood and high political office are incompatible have at least got people talking about how women can balance career and family demands.
The media and blogs have run hot in the past week after Julia Gillard's comments to The Bulletin questioning whether John Howard and Peter Costello would have reached their positions if they were mothers. Ms Gillard's comments have drawn some to offer plenty of examples of high-flying mums. Liberal MP Jackie Kelly's advice to "marry down" - so the husband's lower income is sacrificed when one partner stays home - is one of the more memorable responses.
Mothers running national governments include the Philippines' Gloria Arroyo, Mozambique's Luisa Dias Diogo and Norway's Aili Keskitalo. Prominent past examples include Margaret Thatcher, Edith Cresson, Indira Gandhi and Golda Meir.
Nevertheless, obstacles face the ambitious mother and a new website is a reminder that women still encounter employment discrimination on the basis of parental status, despite a legal arsenal of state and federal equal opportunity and anti-discrimination laws.
The launch of http://www.justbe.com.au itself required an exemption from equal opportunity legislation. A key reason for the exemption was the website's focus on helping women balance work and family commitments, and re-enter the workforce after having children - a point when many women discover the "glass ceiling" that limits career advancement.
JustBe general manager Lisa Pititto says the site was conceived after she and three business partners heard complaints that generic recruitment websites did not cater for women who were looking online for career resources, rather than just a job board.
Ms Pititto says a popular part of JustBe is the "career mothers" section, which is aimed at helping women re-enter the workforce on flexible arrangements such as job-sharing.
Other essays on the website outline how high-flying women achieved work-home balance.
Prudential Institutional chief executive Jean Hamilton ensures sufficient time with her family by applying to her home life the same rigorous time scheduling she uses in business.
"It all goes on my calendar," she says. "Using those kinds of tools helps me minimise the sacrifices."
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Politics and motherhood
Max Berry
January 26, 2007
Sydney Morning Herald
Comments by the deputy leader of the Opposition, Julia Gillard, questioning whether John Howard and Peter Costello would have reached their positions if they were mothers, have got people talking about how women can balance career and family demands.
One of the most memorable responses came from Liberal MP Jackie Kelly, who advises women to "marry down" - so the husband's lower income is sacrificed when one partner stays home.
There are many high-flying mums, including government leaders such as Gloria Arroyo in the Philippines, Mozambique's Luisa Dias Diogo and Norway's Aili Keskitalo. However, ambitious mothers have obstacles to overcome.
A new website is a reminder that women still encounter employment discrimination on the basis of parental status, despite state and federal equal opportunity and anti-discrimination laws.
It's no small irony that www.justbe.com.au required an exemption from equal opportunity legislation because it targeted women exclusively. The site's general manager, Lisa Pititto, says it was conceived after she and three business partners heard complaints from women that some recruitment websites did not provide career resources as well as job ads.
Pititto says the "career mothers" section, which helps women return to the workforce on flexible arrangements such as job-sharing, is particularly popular.
Among the essays on the website are some that demonstrate how high-flying women achieved their work-home balance, including Prudential Institutional chief executive Jean Hamilton. She ensures sufficient time with her family by applying to her home life the same rigorous scheduling she uses in business.
"It all goes on my calendar," she says. "That's the way I have to deal with things in business so I did the same outside of the office," she says.
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Now it's the women-only jobs site
FIRST it was gyms, then nightclubs, now its women-only jobs.
A Victorian company has became the first in Australia to establish an employment website aimed at women.
www.justbe.com.au provides job advertisements, career advice and an online forum targeted at women and has been granted exemptions from Victoria's equal-opportunity laws.
In granting the exemption, Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal deputy president, Cate McKenzie, said the website could be biased.
"It may well be said that there is a bias or a preference for placing women in jobs, simply by the very focus of the website (even though men can access the site)," she said.
But she said there was no opposition to it and the site would help women who were often still at a disadvantage in the employment market.
"It gives them specific information which they may need, and it will help those women who may find it difficult or may not be assertive enough to go to employers to try to look for flexible working arrangements."
Helen Szoke, chief executive of the Equal Opportunity Commission, also welcomed the site, saying women still did not have equal career opportunities.
She said the site could send a strong message to employers that women were under-utilised.
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New jobsite aims to link women with flexible work
Monday 18th December 2006 7:10 am EST www.recruiterdaily.com.au
A Victorian company is today launching a new job site aimed specifically at women.
The website, www.justbe.com.au targets women (although it's also accessible by men) and will provide a job-search engine and career information and advice. It will also provide an interactive forum within which women can discuss their career matters and provide support to one another.
Just Be general manager, Lisa Pititto, was last week granted an exemption from the Victorian Equal Opportunity Act, with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) accepting that while there was a "possibility" that the site discriminated against men, there was no opposition to it launching and the concept had support from organisations such as Business and Professional Women Australia, the Victorian Women's Trust and the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia Ltd.
VCAT Deputy President Cate McKenzie said the site was, in her view, "unique and an extremely sensible and appropriate website to be launching."
She said that while there were many websites and recruitment agencies catering for both men and women, "there is no online facility specifically to help women find careers." She accepted that it will assist women who have been off work on maternity leave and wish to re-enter the workforce and that it will include jobs advertised by employers who can provide flexible work arrangements.
Deputy President McKenzie also added that the site might encourage more employers to consider offering flexible work.
She said that while it was possible the website would meet one of the EO Act's generalised exception provisions (which allow breaches of the Act where a service is designed to reduce some disadvantage suffered by people with a common attribute), there was also a "possibility" that it discriminated against men, and so it was "sensible" to grant the exemption.
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Specialist job board for women gets discrimination exemption
Friday 15th December 2006 3:24 pm EST
www.shortlist.net.au
A Victorian company has been granted an exemption from the state's Equal Opportunity Act to allow it to run an online job board specifically for women.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal yesterday approved a three-year exemption from the anti-discrimination provisions of the Act, even though it accepted there was a possibility of discrimination occurring because the site was primarily aimed at helping women find jobs.
VCAT Deputy President Cate McKenzie accepted evidence from the general manager of the new site - former business womens' award winner Lisa Pititto - that the site's operation would promote some of the objectives of the Act by helping women return to the workforce.
Pititto told the Tribunal that the new site, which will trade under the name "just be" will provide a job-search engine, career information, articles, advice and an interactive forum specifically for women in the workforce or wishing to re-enter the workforce.
She said the new site would have the support of Business and Professional Women Australia, the Victorian Women’s Trust and the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia Ltd.
Deputy President McKenzie said in her decision that the proposed site would "fulfil a need" by helping women who have been off work through pregnancy or maternity leave to find jobs with flexible employment arrangements.
"This is a service which is not provided online anywhere else and it is unique. This is particularly important in today’s changing workplace climate and it is also important for women who simply may not know where to access employers offering these kinds of flexible arrangements", said Deputy President McKenzie.
"It is in my view unique and an extremely sensible and appropriate website to be launching. It will help women in a situation where they are often under disadvantage."
She said the site also "may well encourage more employers to consider offering flexible arrangements like this for women."
Deputy President McKenzie said there was "no indication of any opposition" to the granting of the exemption and in fact "there is great support among Australia-wide organisations for it".
She also accepted that men would be free to access the site should they choose to.
She granted an exemption from the key provisions in the Act until the end of 2009 to allow the site to operate.
Pititto, told Shortlist that women were still under-represented in many parts of the workforce, particularly in trades, technical and senior executive roles.
She said the new site aimed to encourage women to rejoin the workforce by promoting jobs with flexible arrangements.
