I noted yesterday how competition for entry-level (“level 5”) jobs has become fierce, with an average of 4.8 job seekers for every entry-level job, according to a new report from Anglicare:
Moreover, the number of entry-level jobs (level 5) as well as semi-skilled jobs (level 4) had fallen sharply over the past five years, despite the strong growth in the population:
Today, The AFR’s Jacob Greber has produced an analysis of the 2016 Census, which shows there has been a sharp decline in the employment of Australians below the age of 24 since 2011, creating a “lost generation”:
In almost every category of work, employment for people aged below 24 years declined between 2011 and 2016, led by retail, construction, and services…
Even in the mining sector – which has been hardest hit since the end of the resources boom – job losses have been entirely confined to workers aged 15 to 24, where total employment is down 44 per cent. By contrast, the number of middle-aged workers increased in the industry.
While the nation’s 12 million strong labour force created more than 617,000 jobs for people between 25 and 34 over the past five years – an increase of 6.2 per cent – employment of 15 to 19 year olds fell more than 30,000, or 5.4 per cent.
The figures underscore a major conundrum at the heart of the labour market, which has recently galloped forward over the past year even while youth unemployment remains at a structural high…
[One] cause may be that employers opted to stop hiring junior and intern-level staff to avoid having to cut existing workers as the economy slowed between 2012 and 2016.
In any case, the collapse raises the risk that a material number of young people have missed the most crucial period in their lives for developing a base of experience that leads to a successful career…
Every month, MB documents the plight of Australia’s unemployed and underemployed youth. The sad reality is that since the Global Financial Crisis, total employment for 15-24 year-olds has fallen by 1.2%, whereas full-time jobs have plummeted by 19.1%. And this comes despite a 7.5% increase in the youth population over that time period:
Meanwhile, youth underemployment is at a record high 18.6%:
As I noted yesterday, Australia’s youth have become cannon fodder in the face of automation, which has seen entry-level jobs disappear (e.g. supermarket and fast food check-outs), as well as the government’s mass immigration program, which has flooded the labour market with hundreds of thousands of temporary and foreign workers, while at the same time lifted house prices and rents.
When added to the local level restrictions on land supply, the un-policed foreign buying of real estate, tax distortions encouraging real estate speculation, and the public guarantees of the banks, Australia is a closed loop of economic child abuse that needs to be torn down and thrown out.
