Too late to catch up…

I think I picked the wrong year to go and work in a developing country.

One of the constant worries I have is that, despite my efforts to stay across global trends in the workplace, the working world will “move on” without me and I won’t be able to catch up.

A year ago, shortly before I left Australia, the literature world was rocked by the revelation that millions of creative literary works has been used for the purposes of training generative AI platforms - without the consent of the copyright owners. Even now, there is a general consensus across my networks (predominantly people connected with the Australian publishing and literature sector) that this was a bad thing, and we should not be supporting industries that steal with impunity from creatives who are already underpaid for their work. And then there’s the environmental impact of data centres.

And yet, I’m hearing report after report about the implementation of Gen AI in the workplace back in Australia. The common phrase I hear is that AI will empower us to take care of banal, mundane repetitive work. I also hear comments from comms workers that the work that they do is shifting drastically from the creative process of planning, writing and editing content to the more mundane and banal act of generating and assessing AI-created content.

I also hear anecdotes from people who now use gen AI platforms to draft their documents and even write their emails. I read an article today about news providers who are moving to AI to draft all their scripts for news reporting.

I have a lot of complicated feelings about all this. I’m all for free access to information, but the scope to bulk-mine creative works for commercial gain is testing my idea what is fair and accessible. What’s more, we were warned years and years ago (arguably since the birth of science fiction writing!) of the ethical questions around the use of AI. To push back on it now is a case of closing the proverbial gate when the horse has well and truly bolted.

My fear is that we at the very least keep educated on how to use AI in our work and set some values-based parameters on how we can do so that is the best use of our skills and time whilst still producing quality work. At worst, we just need to suck it up and get on board or get redundant.

I still don’t know what this is going to mean for my work when I return to Australia in the coming months. I’m already feeling like the job market is much harder to get a foothold in now than it was a few years ago. I find it fascinating that the APS has released a policy around the use of AI in applying for jobs - acknowledging that some people will use AI to write their job applications, and expecting them to declare it if asked. I don’t use AI to write my applications - I value my ability to write applications in my own voice and apply my own values, not that of an algorithm. But it won’t be long until it is assumed that any given job application has been AI generated (and probably shortlisted using AI). As the cost of living pressures push government to create more efficiencies, this all feels a bit too inevitable.

All this said, I firmly believe that the thing that will never be replaced is our capacity for human connection, through crafting creative works, our social interactions and having integrity in the values that underpin our work.

I'm only happy when it rains

Typically in Vanuatu, June marks the beginning of the dry season, where the temperature is also noticeably cooler, dropping down to around 20 degrees.

Seeking shelter from a mid-day downpour.

It's not dry. It's been bucketing down at least once or twice a day for the last week. But at least it's cool.

Learning to drive again

I have less than three months left in my current role. Typically, the kinds of jobs I have applied for have taken around 8-10 weeks from the application deadline to a formal offer. So I'm keenly aware that now is the time I need to start applying for jobs.

I haven't been an active jobseeker for a few years and everything I'm hearing is indicating that the job market is a lot more limited in Australia that it was back then. It's a source of some mild anxiety, but I'm not hitting the panic button quite yet.

So, on Wednesday I tuned in to an online panel session hosted by ALIA, entitled "Driving your career: you've got your first job, what's next?" It seemed apt, since I feel like this past year has been largely about getting back to principles and realigning my professional skills, and now I'm feeling the need to dive back in and take the next step. The panel, comprising of leaders from public, academic and state libraries, had a stimulating discussion, with many excellent recurring messages, including:

• Your career is your responsibility, not your employer's.
• Don’t pursue a role just because it’s on a trajectory that you think you need to be on. It's not the best use of your time or talents.
• If you don't ask, you don't get. Let your supervisor / manager know that you're interested in opportunities. They're not mind-readers.
• Commit to lifelong learning and changing trends. The workplace in 2036 will be very different to the workplace today - show that you can adapt and be ready and open to change.
• Be aware of your personal brand. How people see you online and in person can influence your career opportunities.
• Form the relationships *before* you need them. Be proactive in networking and meeting people now.
• Make human connections. People don't remember what your said - they remember how you made them feel.

There was also some discussion about the value of LinkedIn in networking and staying engaged in the professional sector. I thought this was interesting - if we'd had this discussion 5-10 years ago, they'd definitely be talking about Twitter in this context. And whilst many former library tweeters have moved to Mastadon or Bluesky, it hasn't quite replicated that level of connection that I used to feel in the Twitterverse.

It was a good reminder of a great many things that I should be mindful of when thinking about my career back in Australia. It's definitely feeling like a lot to take on board, tone-shifting from 'aelan laef' back to the 'big city' hustle culture.

On privilege

Rarely a day goes by that I’m not reminded of how immensely privileged I am to be an Australian. I was born in a country where I have access to clean, drinkable running water, quality public services, world-class education, affordable public health care, and a thriving job market (okay, things got a bit hairy in the early 90s). During my student days, I had access to government financial assistance through a student allowance, and could defer my fees for what were already heavily-subsidised university courses. There are so many excellent career opportunities for those who study hard, work hard and are at the right place at the right time, and we get to do amazing things that continue to build the society that we live in, from quality essential infrastructure to thriving cultural scenes. We have quality food produce and a multicultural community that serves some of the best food in the world. I have a passport that allows visa-free access to more than 100 nations across the world, and the strength of the Australian dollar allows for affordable and comfortable travel in many of those countries. 

Frankly, in the scheme of things, I’ve won the lottery without even asking for it. Are there other “better” countries? Absolutely. But it’s a relatively short list, compared with the rest.

And yet, living in Australia, I do think it’s really easy to not see the forest from the trees. Living overseas changes that.

Living here in Vanuatu, I often meet locals who benefit from participating in the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) Scheme. For many, it’s an opportunity that they never get here in their own country - the chance to go and work as a labourer in another country and bring back money to support their community. It’s also a scheme that’s widely reported as fraught with many issues, from accusations of “modern slavery” to family breakdowns, reduced community numbers and other unintended consequences. Despite all this, it’s still a scheme that is seen by many as preferable to working a job in Vanuatu - especially where unemployment is particularly high, and the minimum wage amounts to about $2.50 AUD an hour.

It is such a privilege that I can do the opposite - put aside my career and all the opportunities that life in Australia provides and come and experience life here in Vanuatu for a year. And then move back to Australia and continue my life there. An absolute privilege.

Familiar pathways

There comes a point, wherever I live, when I become conscious of my familiarity with a place - particularly when it comes to my daily travels. The path that was once new and exotic becomes that blur of automatic movement between leaving the house and arriving at work. From walking through the streets of Port Vila, cutting across a field in Alotau, cycling through the old town of Hoi An, cycling (again) past the crowds of women doing their early-morning aerobics behind the Japanese Embassy in Ha Noi, catching the 86 tram in Melbourne, cycling (yet again) along Sullivan’s Creek in Canberra… I become a creature of routine.

I don’t even remember the moment when I stopped being actively engaged in that journey, but it eventually happens regardless of the setting. It isn’t until later there is that moment of epiphany when I need to remind myself, “Hey, wait a minute, I get to do this every day, which is amazing. And there will come a day when I don’t get to do it anymore.”

It has been famously said that the journey is the destination, and it’s an important reminder to myself that I need to hold onto these “in between” moments that we spend so many collective hours a week of our lives doing.

Is it really June again?

Well it’s June again. I suppose I should try to blog at least once!

Life, as always, has been unpredictable. I live in a developing country where the minimum wage is a little over $2.30 an hour, but it is also often said that this country is the ‘happiest place in the world’. Meanwhile, in Australia, there is a cost of living crisis, fuel prices are out of control, many workplaces are undergoing hiring freeze and staffing cuts, and there is a general malaise about the immediate future.

I don’t have a lot of time left here, and I have started applying for jobs back in Australia. And it’s strange - life here is often relaxed but also sometimes frustrating, stressful and challenging in all the ways that one would expect living in a developing country.

But as much as I am very keen to resume my previous life in Australia, it’s also become a growing cause of angst - getting a job, finding a place to live, having a mode of transport, staying socially connected. And all this whilst trying to live within my means.

Just thinking about it all is stressful - and compared to life here, it’s a very different kind of stress. First world problems. I used to be so dismissive of the idea of first world problems, especially when considering how little so many people in the world have.

I suppose privilege still has a cost but it’s an odd burden to bear.

Opening and closing doors

So, a lot has happened since 29 June 2024.

My fixed-term contract at one place was coming to an end, and I got the offer of another fixed-term role in another government department. And it was in many ways as close to a dream job that I've ever had. It combined a whole range of my professional skills, from customer service, to data management, to catalogue maintenance and the role directly contributed to putting money directly into the pockets of Australian creatives. I worked with a team with colleagues who were passionate and dedicated to the creative sector. I loved it and was very good at my job, and was optimistic that new doors would open as a result - possible permanently!

Flash-forward a year... I still love the job, but the doors that I was hoping would open are experiencing something of a freeze.

But another door opens - one that I wasn't sure that I'd walk through again. And in September I'm on a plane flying to a Pacific nation, once again "bibliotheque bound".

I've been here almost five months now - living in a beautiful, expensive, welcoming, sweaty rock, only a three-hour flight away from Australia.

It's given me time and space to sit with my thoughts - and it's helped my realise a lot of things that I think I already knew about myself, but wasn't ready to admit until now. (Mostly that I am a cool climate person!) 

In the coming months, it's already time to start thinking about my next move - hopefully I'll have more to say about which doors I want to open once we get to June 2026!