Youth unemployment in the spotlight

With one in five young Australians struggling to get work, a new initiative has been launched to help young people get job ready in a tough labour market where 17.7% of 15-19 year olds can’t get a job.

With one in five young Australians struggling to get work, a new initiative has been launched to help young people get job ready in a tough labour market where 17.7% of 15-19 year olds can’t get a job.

Launched by global recruitment company Adecco on Tuesday, ‘Way to Work’ saw over 10,000 Adecco employees in 50 countries organise more than 1,000 actions in over 500 cities around the globe. Reaching more than half a million youngsters in the streets, in public places, at schools and universities, they offered career guidance and free training workshops to support them in their job search and improve their employability.

In Australia and New Zealand almost 250 Adecco staff reached out to over 20,000 young Australian and New Zealanders across 12 cities through school, university and TAFE visits as well as hitting streets offering career guidance and tips on how to best present yourself including advice on how to write a professional resume, ace a job interview and manage your online reputation.

The program will also be available for 12 months online here, to help every young Australian with their job search no matter where they are geographically based.

Adecco Group CEO of Australia and New Zealand, Jeff Doyle, said that in a softening market it is often young people who are the hardest hit by job shortages.

“In tough times, employers are always going to go for the person with more experience so we need to work harder to make our young people more employable by equipping them with the right hard and soft skills that businesses need. That’s where we can really help adress this issue – by bridging the skills mismatch between what kids have and what business wants.”

As the next phase in the Way to Work 12 months program, Adecco has launched a competition called Around the World in 80 Jobs, aimed at 18 (and 18 plus) year olds which is designed to show that life experiences and job experience go hand in hand.

Young people from across Australia and New Zealand are being encouraged to hop online to win the experience of a lifetime - a chance to score a spot 'Around The World in 80 Jobs'. Everyone will be able to follow the winners experiences on social media and Adecco hopes that their adventures will help to inspire others to find work.

There will be eight winners selected from around the globe, each doing 10 jobs in 10 countries. To win, entrants need to beat others in an online game. Entries can be made here