{"id":25852,"date":"2022-05-01T23:13:08","date_gmt":"2022-05-01T23:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/05\/01\/unravelling-australias-complex-jobs-puzzle\/"},"modified":"2022-05-01T23:13:08","modified_gmt":"2022-05-01T23:13:08","slug":"unravelling-australias-complex-jobs-puzzle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/05\/01\/unravelling-australias-complex-jobs-puzzle\/","title":{"rendered":"Unravelling Australia’s complex jobs puzzle"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“I’ve never felt so demoralized,” says Tooba Anwar, a 24-year-old Pakistani-born college graduate living in Sydney.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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She should be taking her first steps up the career ladder as Australia’s economy recovers from the disruption of Covid-19, but is barely making a living and relies on welfare payments to keep a roof over her head. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I’m underemployed. I just work in a cafe… (I’m) just below the poverty line,” she told the BBC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI don’t know anyone in my circle of poor college graduates who could afford a full tank of gas. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t regularly skip meals,\u201d says Ms. Anwar. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Even applications that only \u201cvaguely\u201d match her qualifications\u2014she has degrees in communications and creative writing, as well as a college degree in community service\u2014are regularly rejected. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Her lack of practical, hands-on training was a significant barrier to getting a first job. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt was really difficult because a lot of jobs are [routinely] and require five years of experience,” she says. The few vacancies that are advertised require applicants to demonstrate several years of practical experience, which they will ask for after the interview.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Australia’s unemployment rate is at a record low of around 4% (up from 5.1% at the start of the pandemic). It is similar to the UK (3.9%) and US (3.8%). <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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ANZ, one of Australia’s largest banks, predicts that level will fall even further by the end of this year and remain low into 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At first glance, this sounds very encouraging for Tooba Anwar and her friends. But the labor market, especially in a country the size of Australia (it’s more than 30 times larger than the UK), can be very complex. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Open jobs may be insecure, poorly paid, or not where they are most needed. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It is estimated that around 2.4 million Australians – up to a quarter of the labor force – are casual workers with few rights and no paid holidays. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Job creation policies will be a key campaign issue for candidates to sway voters ahead of the May 21 general election. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Unions have noted that in the absence of permanent contracts there has been a “crisis of job insecurity in this country”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Advertised vacancies have increased, but the work is not always suitable or close by. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt’s not easy to bring skills (and) locations together,\u201d explains Daniel Gschwind, the Swiss-born chief executive of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council, which represents companies in a sector that is craving for labour. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For example, there are 1,200 vacancies for chefs and cooks. The gap was a problem before the pandemic, but now it’s more acute, with foreign applicants being offered financial relief on visa fees as an incentive. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There are also efforts to encourage older Australians, students and part-time workers to join the tourism industry. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAustralia’s unemployment rate is now falling to historically very low levels: the labor pool is drying up far more than ever before. This is a global problem,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThis is a serious problem. We use every labor pool we can find, including recruiting skilled overseas migrants.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And there is a broader issue at stake here – the recognition that low wage rates, which have stagnated for years, need to be adjusted. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“It’s maybe a bit of a reputation problem,” says Mr. Gschwind. \u201cTourism, and hospitality in particular, is still not as respected as a career choice. We are trying to change that.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There is also a labor crisis on the other side of the continent, Western Australia, which became the last state to reopen its international borders closed by Covid. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In 2019, tourism in Western Australia had a record year, generating A$13.5 billion (\u00a37.5 billion; US$9.87 billion). The state welcomed 536,400 international visitors, more than 10% more than last year. But the coronavirus has shattered that trend. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In order to revitalize this part of the economy, it needs workers, and lots of them. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Western Australia’s Tourism Minister, Roger Cook, is pinning his hopes in part on young overseas travelers rekindling their love for long-haul travel, particularly Australia. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“While the return of working holiday makers and international students is helping to fill some of these workforce gaps, we recognize the need for a larger pipeline of skilled local workers in the hospitality and tourism sectors to future-proof the industry,” he told the BBC in a statement Email Statement. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Various tourism and hospitality courses at technical and further education colleges – including commercial cookery – are now half price or free for eligible students and are government funded. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe job market in Australia now looks really promising for young people and is better than it has been for years. There are more opportunities for young people…but there are also a lot more uncertainties,” explains Kate Griffiths, a researcher at the Grattan Institute, a Melbourne-based research organization. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe know young people have not been on strong footing during the pandemic. In Australia there was growing wealth and income inequality between young and old, and then we saw the pandemic hit young people harder than most groups. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“It was their jobs and their working hours that were lost first when lockdowns were put in place,” she adds. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Covid-19 plunged Australia into its first recession since the early 1990s. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The economy is recovering but financial recovery is not even nationwide and many younger Australians are missing out due to a lack of skills or experience. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“It’s such a common problem. The young people I work with can’t find proper jobs\u2026 that pay at least (minimum) wage,\u201d says Bronwyn O’Brien, social worker at SydWest Multicultural Services in Sydney. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThey end up making cash payments for a friend of a friend or distant relative at A$10 an hour in not great conditions and with no job security. The opportunity to get decent work is so limited.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Tooba Anwar simply wants the opportunity to contribute and earn a fair wage. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“It’s such a waste of the energy, knowledge and enthusiasm we all have. We would like to be in a job where we are actually supported, where we have secure work,” she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I’ve never felt so demoralized,” says Tooba Anwar, a 24-year-old Pakistani-born college graduate living in Sydney. She should be taking her first steps up the career ladder as Australia’s economy recovers from the disruption of Covid-19, but is barely making a living and relies on welfare payments to keep a roof over her head. “I’m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nUnravelling Australia's complex jobs puzzle - Tahrir News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/05\/01\/unravelling-australias-complex-jobs-puzzle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unravelling Australia's complex jobs puzzle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“I’ve never felt so demoralized,” says Tooba Anwar, a 24-year-old Pakistani-born college graduate living in Sydney. 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