Jobless totals at ‘scary’ level

JOB seekers are being urged to diversify and upskill as concerning new figures show the Far North’s unemployment rate skyrocketing with at least 25 per cent of people in the labour force now jobless or on JobKeeper.

Bill Cummings of Cummings Economics has released a report that showed those receiving unemployment benefits increased from 8915 to 23,100 in January-April this year.

The report, using data from the Australian Department of Social Services, also showed the biggest jump in the number of people claiming JobSeeker and Youth Allowance payments occurred in FebruaryMarch, up from 8402 to 15,617.

Bayview Heights man Caleb Gale has been a casual in hospitality for the past two months and said he received 0-5 hours of work per week at the moment.

The 23-year-old, who’s registered with a recruitment firm, said that while “I’m one of the lucky ones to have work”, he had taken up a personal training course.

“I had nothing else to do. I’m not too worried about my employment status but I’m desperate for full-time work,” he said.

Signature Staff’s founder and director Vlasta Eriksson said the figures were “quite scary”.

“The figures are sad to see but they’re pretty much right,” Ms Eriksson said. “Knowing our region, we rely heavily on hospitality and tourism and because of that, other industries are struggling too.”

Ms Eriksson said that employers were still uncertain about the short-term future “especially with talks about a second wave” and were likely to opt for temporary employees in addition to those on JobKeeper once the economy picks up again.

On a positive note, Ms Eriksson said there were other industries spared from the coronavirus.

“In construction, there are some trades that have slowed down, but they’re moving along quite fine,” she said.

CBC Staff director Sally Mlikota said the firm had seen a surge in resumes and applications coming through to their consultants between March and June.

She said sectors most impacted by the pandemic were retail and tourism.

“The sectors where demand has shown less of a decrease, but not at such a dramatic level are in the government administration sector and community services sector,” she said.

Asked about her forecast post-pandemic, Ms Mlikota said any unemployment figure change would be “sluggish”.