Entry-level jobs vanish from Australia's labour market – report

Entry-level jobs are disappearing from the Australian labour market, and five entry-level workers are now competing for each advertised job, a report has found.

The findings prompted Anglicare Australia’s deputy director, Roland Manderson, to call on the government to stop making scapegoats of the unemployed.

“Basically we’re talking about a whole mob of people who are excluded from the workforce, who have really little chance of getting work. And yet they’re blamed for their unemployment,” Manderson said.

“We’re blaming people for their circumstances, and I think we do it to avoid blaming ourselves.”

Anglicare released its jobs availability snapshot on Thursday, which examined jobs advertised and unemployment figures from the sample month, May 2017. It found there were 124,000 jobseekers who were only qualified for entry-level jobs. Those jobseekers were competing for 25,979 entry-level jobs advertised, the report found.

The number of entry-level jobs was also falling. In 2006 about 22% of advertised jobs were entry-level. This year, it was 15%.

Anglicare’s report also warned of the worsening security of work. The number of underemployed Australians rose from 875,200 last year to 1.1 million this year. More broadly, there were 711,900 unemployed

competing for a total of 171,544 advertised jobs in May.

The report comes as the government pushes ahead with significant changes to the welfare system. The changes includes drug testing of welfare recipients, a new demerit point system for the failure to meet mutual obligations, and cuts to a bereavement allowance that could leave families $1,300 worse off.

Wife pension payments will also be abolished for about 200 women living overseas and the government plans to remove “intent to claim provisions”, which protect people who are entitled to welfare but are unable to lodge a full claim due to personal circumstances.

The Anglicare report recommended raising Newstart and Youth Allowance rates, dismantling the “rigid” system of mutual obligation and punishment, and identifying and supporting industries with entry-level jobs that are expected to expand, such as aged care and disability.

Anglicare’s executive director, Kasy Chambers, said the job snapshot showed punishing welfare recipients was ineffective.

“This shows that cracking down on welfare and forcing people to jump through hoops simply hasn’t worked,” she said. “Instead of helping people find work, they are forced to compete for jobs that simply aren’t there.

“But there is hope, and opportunity. With the disability and agedcare sectors set to grow across Australia, we can create stable jobs and career pathways for those who need them. We can offer tailored support and training for those who need it. And we can redesign the support system so that it’s a safety net – not a poverty trap.”