Whizzkid Taj Pabari cracks code to cut youth unemployment

Unemployment figures out this week are tipped to worsen but one whizzkid is not waiting for any bad news and is helping slash youth unemployment with a groundbreaking education program.

Taj Pabari (second left) with students Tanmay Pandya, Ziri Keen and Aurora Surawski at QUT this week. AAP/Jono Searle

A YOUNG Queensland entrepreneur is ready to tackle expected dismal youth unemployment figures out on Thursday.

Taj Pabari, 19, said the March labour force data was expected to show the country’s overall unemployment rising back to 5 per cent.

In Logan, Mr Pabari, said the December quarter showed the unemployment rate was 7.06 per cent.

But the 2017 Young Queenslander of the Year said the really bad news expected on Thursday would be for youth looking for jobs.

Unemployment data for Logan released in December shows it as a hotspot for youth unemployment.

The forecast was hinted at in a report by anti-poverty organisation the Brotherhood of St Laurence analysing Australian Bureau of Statistics data last year.

That report found youth unemployment hot spots in suburbs south of Brisbane including Beenleigh and Springwood.

The report said the unemployment rate for people aged 15 to 24 in the labour force in Queensland was 13.3 per cent in 2018.

But in Beenleigh and Springwood, that figure was closer to 17.7 per cent last year, which has gone down to 15 per cent this year.

Despite this week’s data potentially rising as an election issue, Mr Pabari said his company, Fiftysix Creations, had tailored a program to prepare school-aged kids to get into the workforce.

This week, more than 50 kids enrolled in Mr Pabari’s school holiday program Business Camp and attended classes at Queensland University of Technology at Gardens Point. The kids were given one-on-one sessions about how to be job ready.

Taj Pabari, centre, with students at QUT in Brisbane. He hopes to hold a youth summit in September AAP/Jono Searle

“Fiftysix Creations did a Future Proofing Young People Report, which found 50 per cent of parents do not believe schools are doing enough to equip young people for the workforce of the future,” Mr Pabari said.

“Nearly one third do not believe young people are prepared for the workforce of the

future.

“It’s obvious school students in regional and remote communities are not reaching their full potential due to lack of a localised education.

“Many school students end up unemployed and cannot find entry-level work, which is where Fiftysix Creations comes into action.”

Mr Pabari said youth unemployment was 67.1 per cent in outback Queensland.

The John Paul College student who set up Fiftysix Creations when he was 14, also joined forces last month with Logan and Redland councils to cut youth unemployment.

Together they plan to hold a forum to tap the talents of the brightest young minds in the southeast.

The Young Entrepreneur Summit will be held at Redland Performing Arts Centre on September 13.