Teens struggle to find work
Isiah Lock is 18, has level 3 qualifications, is trained as a barista, and says it took him ages to find even a part-time job.
Taelym Kenny is also 18, has experience in sound and audio and bar service, and can’t get a look in.
The teenagers are among 1600 young people aged 15-24 in the region who are not in fulltime education, employment or training as of the September quarter, according to figures from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. That represents 11.6 per cent of the total youth working-age population.
While that figure is down 5.2 per cent on the September 2019 quarter, the overall unemployment rate for Taranaki is 4.5 per cent of the labour force.
Lock and Kenny are urging employers to ‘‘put themselves in our shoes’’ when it comes to recruiting new staff.
‘‘Personally I don’t think that the experience matters so much as the training,’’ Kenny said. ‘‘Being my age I’m not going to have all the work experience – I’m just going to be trained in whatever field.’’
Lock adds that employers need to consider all the ‘‘rigmarole’’ young people go through when trying to get a job.
Luke Galley, manager at youth service Zeal Taranaki, where the two teenagers volunteer, said the pair had a strong work ethic and had been all round town with their CVs.
‘‘It would be a different story if they had been young people who were lazy, didn’t set their alarms in the morning.’’
The struggle into employment is commonplace among young people he sees.
‘‘Mental health has been a real struggle, just not having that sense of purpose each day,’’ Galley said.