‘White-collar apprentice’ cadets call by unis and business to beat jobs crisis
A ‘white-collar apprentice’ plan is being called for by business and unis so young people get a foot in the door of a career rather than ending up in the dole queue.
SA News
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Young people should be offered a cadetship – similar to an apprenticeship but covering a broader range of education pathways – leading business and education groups say.
Like an apprenticeship, the program would combine formal post-secondary schooling with paid work, and be subsidised by government.
These “white-collar apprenticeships” for careers in sectors such as business, IT and engineering would counter the effect of the recession which has caused the worst job market in decades.
UniSA vice-chancellor David Lloyd who co-authored a national report outlining the proposal, said it would create “a legacy of improved pathways from education to work”.
Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said the cadetships were urgently needed by business as well as young people.
“We will watch our youth struggle to gain a foothold in the workforce and may well experience long term labour-scarring,” Mr Willox said.
“Simultaneously, industries will not have the necessary pipeline of skills that will be required well into the future.”
Cadets would undergo a four-year program or a 6 to 12-month program if already semi-skilled. They could undertake an undergraduate or associate degree at university or higher diploma while earning a wage by working in a business.
The report said businesses employing cadets in the four-year courses should receive a federal subsidy of $28,000 – equivalent to apprentice support – and $14,700 a year for short-course cadets – equivalent to the JobSeeker allowance.
Without urgent action “Australia faces an explosion in the number of young people who are not in employment, education or training”, said Victoria University vice-chancellor Peter Dawkins, a co-author.
”The next wave will come at the start of 2021 when an additional 120,000 young people graduate from education with gloomy job prospects, to say the least,” he said.
The report, published today by the Mitchell Institute, estimated there were 100,000 fewer jobs available to people aged 15 to 24 following the pandemic’s effect on the economy.
Individuals who became disengaged without a job from an early age cost the public purse heavily in lower taxes, higher welfare and a slight increase in health and criminal justice costs, overseas research showed. Rather than more people on the dole, it would be better to spend the money on developing a skilled workforce, the report argues.