Australian job creation schemes

These signs are very common in Australia and for themselves they are no reason to get excited or to wonder.

Associated with these signs, however, are usually one or more people in bright orange safety dress holding signs that say ' STOP' or 'SLOW'. Those poor people seem to be replacements for the old fashioned stands on which signs are commonly attached in other parts of the world. A reason to wonder for me.. or maybe just a desperate job creation scheme?