11 Nov 2015

Getting a bit sick of people saying young people are slack, when in fact there just isn’t enough jobs for us? Us too. Sometimes the future looks a bit bleak, and it doesn’t help that the Foundation for Young Australians has just found that it will take us up to five years to find full-time work after studying. So that’s something to look forward to!

Despite the fact that our generation is the most educated ever, we’re facing the worst job prospects in more than 20 years, and a lot of us won’t even end up using most of the skills we studied in our jobs. 70% of young people are studying for jobs that may not even exist in the future. This article is depressing me as I write it.

The picture painted in high school that you’ll cruise straight on through to uni and then get a job straight after that is simply not true these days, and students are choosing to prolong their studies so that they don’t have to think about daunting career prospects for as long as possible.

The research shows that graduates most likely to be in full-time employment by age 27 are arts students, but employers are increasingly valuing experience over multiple qualifications. But how many internships can you realistically do before you’re struggling to keep up financially?

The reports have been looking worse and worse since the 2008 GFC and young Aussies have been hit hardest by a more casual workforce, where professionals are increasingly working casually or on contracts.

Feeling a bit sick about all this? You’re not alone. 67% of us are worried we’re not going to be able to find a career-related job and 56% believe their prospects after uni aren’t strong. Yikes.

There’s calls for there to be much more workplace training for students, and 64% of us believe that unis aren’t adequately equipping students with skills that will fulfil the needs of a workplace.

We’re worried we won’t get the careers we want, and we’re worried our study won’t pay off. We’re choosing to study more rather than take the risk of long term unemployment. Over two thirds of us have no idea of the direction our careers will take. What we need is much greater career guidance and support from universities and industry alike.

But it’s making us resilient. We’re feeding our determination to succeed, studying harder than ever and we’re becoming more and more ambitious and resourceful. We’ll make it, guys, don’t worry. We’re all in this together.