Young Australians more pessimistic than Chinese and Americans about job prospects

Xinhua News Agency

text

Young Australians are more pessimistic about their job prospects and have less confidence in their abilities than young people from other countries, according to a new study.

The report commissioned by Information Technology (IT) firm, Infosys, surveyed 1000 young people, aged between 16 and 25, in each of nine countries including the United States, Britain, Germany, Australia and China.

The results of the survey found that, of the nine nationalities, Australians were the most negative about their employment prospects. Only half of the 1,000 Australians surveyed said they were optimistic or very optimistic about getting a job in the future.

Of those, just 13 percent felt "very optimistic" about their job prospects but that figure was much higher among Chinese respondents -- 43 percent.

There were other findings which reflected the lack of optimism among Australian students, school leavers and university graduates: while 70 percent of Chinese respondents felt their education had prepared them properly for work, only 50 percent of Australians felt that way.

Eighty percent of Australians felt they needed to learn new skills to enable them to be 'work ready' for their current job. Yet 65 percent of Chinese felt confident about their 'work readiness' skills.

The survey also found Australia had a high gap in technological competence between men and women, with 48 percent of men rated as highly competent, compared to 28 percent of women.

Professor Paul Kofman, Dean of Melbourne University's Faculty of Business and Economics, told Xinhua on Wednesday he was surprised by the level of pessimism from young Australians given the nation's strong economic position compared to some of the other countries surveyed.

"Australia's ability to survive the recent decline in the mining employment, offset by new employment opportunities in the services sector, as well as the closure of many labor-intensive manufacturing businesses over the past few years without any significant impact to employment rates, suggests an economy that is resilient; an economy that is able to provide future job," Kofman told Xinhua.

Australia has been "a bit late to the party" when it came to adapting and adjusting teaching curricula at schools and universities, Kofman said.

Work readiness of Australian graduates was also an area of "serious concern", according to the study's authors. Kofman said employers - and not just the education system - had an obligation to ensure the skills of workers were up to standard.

"Most Australian universities recognize the need to deliver graduates that are work-ready and have embraced work-integrated learning in their curriculum. This is where consulting opportunities, internships and work experiences are important, but changes need to happen," he said on Wednesday.

"We need to move away from work placements that are considered a screening process for future employment, towards a work experience where young people learn as they go."

Kofman also said young Australians were reluctant to work in start-up companies as they became more aware of the risks involved.

"The risks are too great. There is a structural problem in Australian markets where there are a lack of small business loans being granted for young Australians with no collateral," Kofman said.

"Australians trade off the risk against the possible return and decide not to be involved in start-ups."

Kofman said the Australian media had an important role to play in reassuring young Australians that opportunities for employment will exist in the future.

"(In Australia) negative news dominates which influences the minds of youth into thinking that there are no jobs," Kofman said.

"The sentiments are real and we need to respond to this survey. The government is on the right path but the media needs to be more upbeat."