The 560,000 Australian job seekers being 'left behind' each year

It is getting harder for those without qualifications or years of experience to get into entry-level jobs in Australia, a report says.

There are more applicants for entry-level jobs, meaning those without experience or qualifications are finding it even harder to get employed. Source: Getty / ridvan_celik

Key Points

• Anglicare's Jobs Snapshot found there were 26 job seekers for each entry-level role in Australia.
• The head of the organisation says there are fewer entry-level roles now than compared to last year.
• Thoughtful job creation, improved support for the unemployed and an overhaul of employment services could help.

Do you know anyone who has started in an unskilled role lately, where they learned about the job while on the job?

The head of Anglicare told SBS News such entry-level roles are becoming few and far between, making it harder for those without qualifications or experience to get a look in when it comes to finding employment.

"We are seeing a diminishing number of roles that people can walk straight into and learn on the job," Anglicare executive director Kasy Chambers said.

The results of the organisation's latest annual Jobs Availability Snapshot found that while more Australians may be employed compared to this time last year, the challenge of getting a job for those without any qualifications or experience has increased.

While there were 15 job seekers for every entry-level role last year, the report, released on Thursday, showed that there are now 26 job seekers for a similar vacancy in Australia.

According to Anglicare's Jobs Snapshot, those without qualifications or experience are finding it even harder to get into the workforce. Source: Getty / YinYang

“Our Snapshot shows that almost 560,000 Australians in this situation are looking for work. They are long-term unemployed, and they are being left behind each year," Chambers said.

“They need entry-level jobs to get their feet on the ladder, but there aren’t enough to meet demand in any part of the country."

The Snapshot, which measures how many jobs are available for people who don’t have qualifications or work experience found that on average 18 of those 26 people vying for each entry-level job have barriers to work.

Chambers said people with disabilities, those who did not finish year 12 at school or older workers who lost their jobs later in life were the worst affected, spending almost four years, on average, looking for work.

Fewer entry-level roles

Chambers said entry-level opportunities should be created in growing sectors such as aged care and disability support, adding that while many such roles — especially those in retail and agriculture — had been lost to automation, there was room for more.

While employment figures have risen in Australia in the past year, Chambers said the jobs added to the economy were at a higher level.

"Employers are increasingly wanting roles where they're asking for really quite complex skills, they're asking for a strong task mix and degrees or three years of experience," she said.

Chambers said Australia should be looking to areas in the economy needing to expand their workforce such as aged and disability care to create more entry-level roles.

And while certain roles could be rethought and restructured instead of having requirements that ruled out a portion of job seekers, job creation should not be left up to operators alone, she said.

"We do need to have government input on those roles."

The struggle with unemployment

Chambers said part of the struggle for those looking for entry-level roles was that they were "trapped in poverty while they look for work."

"Australia needs to lift job seekers out of poverty," she said.

"If you're unemployed, you will most likely be on $346 a week [from Centrelink,] what we hear from people is that the kinds of choices they have to make in order to exist on that money are actually life-limiting.

Kasy Chambers says the level of unemployment payments paid in Australia adds to significant challenges for anyone struggling to find work. Source: AAP / Matt King

"It is impossible to keep a roof over your head or buy food on that kind of level of income, it is impossible to get yourself trained for work," she said.

She said Anglicare services sometimes dealt with people who had spent "the vast proportion of their day looking for food bargains, so it is impossible to look for work on that amount of money."

Improve employment services

Chambers said ineffective employment services had done little to assist Australia's least skilled workers and welcomed a potential overhaul announced by the government.

"We heard numerous stories where people who have a reported disability, which means that they shouldn't be asked to stand for longer than two hours at a time were put through barista courses because that's something that the employment services run," she said.

"Then there would be an expectation that those workers could stand at a coffee machine and make coffee for six hours.

Chambers said it was important to ensure employment services were helping people find meaningful roles that would work for them in the long term. Source: Getty / Kriangkrai Thitimakorn

"We really could be much, much better in tailoring training to what people need, what their capability is, and what kind of roles are actually available in their area."

Workforce Australia handed down its final report in November, with committee chair Julian Hill warning the system was failing to support Australia's most disadvantaged.

The report made 75 recommendations to fix a system it said hurt job seekers and employers alike.

"We have an inefficient, outsourced, fragmented social security compliance management system that sometimes gets someone a job against all odds," Hill said at the time.

Entry-level job creation that works

Chambers spoke about a Victorian aged care provider that had seen benefits from creating entry-level roles for people who lacked the required qualifications or experience but had shown an "aptitude for caring."

She said such workers, who were in addition to the main workforce, were able to learn on the job and add value, with many going on to attain qualifications and step up into other roles.

"What that's done for the elderly people in those services, they've had more people to assist them and give their time, so it's benefit all round," Chambers said.