Australians grapple with less work, low pay

Sydney

SYDNEY resident Raman Kumar recently lost his job as an electrician after his employer outsourced a big chunk of the work to China to slash costs - and then hired him back as a casual worker.

In June, the 40-year-old signed up as a driver for ride-sharing app Uber to help make ends meet, becoming part of the so-called "gig economy" - where workers have greater flexibility but less security with more part-time or casual jobs.