Work is hard for younger Aussies

AUSTRALIANS in their 20s and 30s could be faced with years of poor career prospects, including low-paying and lowskilled jobs.

A Productivity Commission report released on Monday details how young people struggled to find jobs in their desired occupation even before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report looks at the types of jobs young people found after graduating from university or vocational education and training between 2001 and 2018.

It says young people’s job prospects and salary growth were worse than those for people aged 35 and older.

“Many young people have experienced unemployment recently and are likely to face a reduced set of job opportunities as a result of the recession,” the report states. “This scarring could last some time.”

The report says improvement in the labour market is unlikely for some time.

“The fact that the weak labour market lasted for a decade means that many young workers will face long-term scarring,” the report reads.

For instance, last month the jobless rate for those aged between 20 and 24 climbed to 13.9 per cent, and for those aged 25 to 34 it rose by almost three percentage points

7.5 per cent.

However, there was good news for those aged between 35 and 44, with the unemployment rate lifting by 1.4 percentage points to 5.2 per cent.

Many young workers who took a job they may be overqualified for were labelled “unlucky” in the report, which also states this category has increased over time.

Wage growth for those younger than 34 almost halved after the global financial crisis (GFC) and continued to fall for several years post-2012.

There was also an increase in the number of Australians graduating from university in the past decade, meaning there is more competition. And the pandemic is set to make landing a job more challenging.

“While some young people might choose to pursue further study and return to the job market when conditions are more favourable, this paper suggests that if labour markets continue to be weak, additional education can lead to a mismatch between existing job opportunities and aspirations,” the report states.

The report comes a week after Treasurer Josh Frydenberg revealed the unemployment rate was likely to hit 9.25 per cent by December. to