Employment: Defining the issue

At the moment, around 13% of people under 25 are unemployed, and a further 20% are considered under-employed (they don't have enough work to sustain themselves). Yep, that means one third of all young people in NSW are not in stable employment. 

This is a pretty serious issue that not only effects young people's ability to live securely, but also puts them at risk of falling into poverty, experience social exclusion, or suffer poor mental health.  

So why don't these people just go get jobs?  

Well, there are a few reasons:

Entry level jobs are hard to find

There are very few jobs available for people with little experience or who are just finishing school. Because of technology and automation (think about self-serve check outs at supermarkets) there are less and less jobs available for people who have never had a job before.

Career advice isn't great

Of the jobs that will be available in the next 5 years, 90% of them require education past high school (whoa). This means that almost everyone looking for a job needs to have further education after high school.

For a lot of people, it's hard to work out where you should study, what you should study, and how you should get the right skills for the job you want (assuming you actually know what job you want that is).

There's not currently a clear place for people to get help planning their training and their career. having an incoherent system of career advice is problematic because it means more people lose time, money, and energy floundering without direction.

Job finding systems are flawed

When they turn to the government for help, a lot of job seekers are being forced into jobs that don't suit them because the places that help them get jobs are paid to just get them any old job. As you can imagine, it's hard to stay in a job that doesn't suit your skills, abilities, or life situation.