Future Employment Services Survey Snapshot - August 2018
Key themes
Young people described a system that is often punitive, ineffective and unable to genuinely and meaningfully support them in a weak job market.
Employment service providers were regularly characterised as a hindrance to job seeking efforts and some young people reported that they had achieved, personal, employment and training goals without (and sometimes despite of) provider intervention.
Young people reported relatively low levels of service provision in each of the key functions of employment services, with only 18.5% of survey respondents reporting assistance with referrals to job vacancies.
For future employment services to better serve young people, survey respondents have called for more one-on-one services that are respectful, compassionate, flexible, tailored to the personal circumstances and career goals of young people and cognisant of the current job market.
On The Smashed Avocado, we asked a young person to detail their experiences with Jobactive. In that article, we incorporated feedback from the Future Employment Services Survey.