Youth Unemployment in Australia

Finding a job after finishing high school or university is becoming more competitive due to the changing landscape of work.

boys and girls looking over city talkingIn today’s world, millennials are more educated, tech savvy and connected than ever before but even those with university degrees are struggling to find employment… So, what does this mean for those young people who don’t have a degree or qualifications?

Youth unemployment in Australia is at critical levels. In a report by the Brotherhood of St Laurence, the national youth unemployment rate remains at 11.2% (December 2018).

This figure shows that a quarter of a million young Australians are unemployed. What this figure doesn’t capture, are those young people who are considered ‘employed’ but can only find casual, shift work or part-time work. These types of jobs can only sustain them long enough to get by, day-to-day but isn’t enough to support them to live a prosperous life. Securing ongoing or meaningful employment early on is important for young people to gain confidence, independence, a sense of belonging, wellbeing and skill development for the future.

Why is it so hard for young people to find work?

Young people sitting down talkingThere are several factors that impact unemployment rates which include globalisation, introduction of new technologies, demographic, social and economic changes. These factors in turn, have also created new opportunities however, with the changing landscape of work, employers are now seeking more skilled employees and want young people who have experience.

In 2017, The Daily Telegraph reported that out of 1.355 million online job advertisements, only 6311 jobs were advertised “with no experience.”

At Keyba Careers, the biggest feedback we get from young job seekers who can’t find employment is ‘How can we get work experience if we can’t find a job?’.

Did You Know? – Youth Action

  • Half of Australia’s 25-year-olds are unable to secure full-time employment, despite 60% holding post-school qualifications.
  • 1 in 3 young people are unemployed or underemployed.
  • The youth unemployment rate is more than double the national average.
  • Having so many young people out of the workforce costs our economy 790 million lost hours of work each year, equating to up to $15.9 billion in lost GDP to the Australian economy annually.
  • Around 25% of young people in NSW are currently neither engaged in full-time work nor full-time education.
    *see report by Youth Action

Next Steps

Young people have huge potential and can be extremely beneficial to the workforce when given an opportunity. Our goal at Keyba Careers, is to get the message out there to industries, to inform them that more needs to be done to give young people an opportunity to gain experience in work, to set them up for the future. As a corporate social responsibility, workplaces need to introduce more entry level jobs, internships, casual/ part-time positions or even an opportunity to do volunteer work.

If businesses don’t open their doors to such possibilities it can jeopardize the future workforce of Australia. See our article on the different ways young people can gain experience and get their foot in the door, see article. Key Business Advisors has written an article to employers, educating them on the ways they can hire a young person in their business, see article.

If you’re a job seekers looking to upskill yourself by preparing for the workforce, sign up to Keyba Career’s ‘Employer Engagement Program’ that will get you job ready! Sign-up to our first lesson, it’s free!!