New research has identified ten practical actions that could help young people to find employment in the Loddon Campaspe area.
“How Work Works” is a report based on interviews conducted by youth interns aged 18-24 with more than 25 major regional employers and 250 young people. The research found that despite COVID-19, over the long term, many local industries are growing and that there is a diverse range of entry level work available for young people. Most encouragingly, young people’s interests also often match the characteristics that employers say they are looking for in new staff.
With most employers reporting that they were willing to train people on the job, the research suggests that young people in Loddon Campaspe could actually be facing better employment opportunities than their counterparts in Melbourne.
The research identified five practical steps that governments and local leaders could take to help young people find local employment. One of those steps was to take a ‘jobs first’ approach in COVID-19 recovery planning, which researcher Jeanette Pope said is an opportunity to get a two-for-one outcome.
‘Employers told us that they are facing skill shortages and young people said they needed experience to get work. So, if we fast track projects that provide young people with experience in tight labour market areas, we get a win-win outcome. We could also create new gap-year internships for young people whose lives have been affected by COVID-19, which could give employers access to the skills their businesses need and give young people meaningful work experience.’
Researcher Jeanette Pope said the study also identified five practical things that young people could do to take advantage of the employment opportunities that are out there.
‘One simple step is to rethink your CV. Experience is the main thing that employers look for on a CV but the employers we spoke to said that previous experience in their industry wasn’t that necessary. They said that volunteering, community or sporting involvement, or evidence of being able to see a task through to its conclusion, was just as important’.
Researcher Jeanette Pope was commissioned by a partnership of four Local Learning and Employment Networks with funding from the Loddon Campaspe Regional Partnership. The report was launched on 22 October 2020 by the young interns to representatives of the Loddon Campaspe Regional Partnership, local MP’s and participating guests and employers via Zoom.
The report is available at here.
Ocotober 2020
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