South Australia’s flailing economy is leaving behind a generation of disenchanted youth

ONE of our states is struggling, big time. And its stubbornly high unemployment has made a whole generation desperate.

Daniel Meredith is the one of many becoming disheartened by futile efforts to enter the SA job market.

IT’S no secret that South Australia is struggling.

The southern state has the highest rate of unemployment in the country and a string of job losses in the manufacturing industry means the worst of the pain is likely still ahead.

While much of the economic discussion on the east coast is dominated by rising house prices in the major cities, spare a thought for those in Adelaide who are really feeling the pinch. And that pinch is being felt disproportionately by young people desperately trying to get a foothold in the job market.

For 19-year-old Daniel Meredith, things have got so dire that last week he turned to an Adelaide forum on social media site reddit with the hope someone in the city might be able to help in his ongoing job search.

“My job hunt has become so desperate I’ve come here,” he wrote in the post. “Does ANYONE know ANYWHERE that’s hiring?”

He admits it was a long shot, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

“Desperation, frustration, initiative, whatever you want to call it, is what drove me to seek help on reddit,” he told news.com.au

“All other mediums had been exhausted so I thought perhaps if someone knew somewhere that was actively hiring right now ... I might have a chance to prove myself.”

He sometimes has promotional work on offer.

Daniel says he and many of his mates struggle to get by.

Daniel graduated from Cabra Dominican College in 2013 with an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank in the high 90s. He is studying Podiatry at The University of South Australia but has been looking for a job since finishing year 12. Apart from a stint working at an e-recycling plant immediately after finishing school, he gets occasional work with a neighbour’s promotion company. But jobs can be months apart and there has been none on offer for more than two months.

“I currently have no savings to speak of or disposable income. My income is irregular and insufficient to pay for Uni fees and textbooks,” he said.

As he expected, his call-out on reddit didn’t prove fruitful. No jobs, just words of encouragement.

“Good luck, mate. Adelaide is dead cold,” wrote one respondent. “Good luck mate. It’s pretty dang rough ... Grit your teeth,” wrote another.

Daniel says plenty of friends share his frustration.

The 19-year-old said he was not alone in his frustrations over the sheer lack of opportunities currently on offer in the state and said his situation was sadly typical of plenty of people his age.

“Most of my friends and family are either unemployed, employed through family or friends’ connections or employed in the same dead-end job they have been in since they were 14,” he said.

But his lack of success in finding work is certainly not for a lack of trying.

“First I began taking resumes in, in person to these workplaces. I had a very low success rate, in most cases getting turned round and told to apply online or never hearing a reply. Most small businesses I tried said not to bother.”

So he tried a different tact.

“I have been actively applying in hospitality, retail, customer service and other similar, low qualified industries. I rarely hear back, if I do, it’s an automated email telling me sorry you missed the job.

He said all he wanted was an interview to prove himself, but that goal remained an elusive one.

“It feels like the same opportunities my generation’s parents and grandparents had do not exist and it is very frustrating to be told hypocritically we are simply too entitled and not working hard enough,” he said.

SA UNEMPLOYMENT AT ‘CRISIS’ LEVELS

South Australia’s unemployment rate was calculated at 7.7 per cent for the month of September, down slightly from 7.9 per cent in August. That may sound like it’s going in the right direction but the jobs situation is precarious at best with the manufacturing industry struggling.

The finals stages in the closure of Holden’s Elizabeth plant, as well as massive lay-offs at energy giants Santos and Alinta, and job cuts at the Whyalla site of embattled steelworks company Arrium means the unemployment figure is likely to rise.

Dr Steven Barrett, from the University of Adelaide’s School of Economics, told Adelaide’s InDaily last week that the true number of people out of work in South Australia was reminiscent of the 1990-91 recession. Something he called a “scary” state of affairs.

He believes the real unemployment figure is closer to 10 per cent but even that is a serious understatement as the way the Australian Bureau of Statistics calculates the figure produces a very conservative number.

“If we calculated properly we should be seeing 20 per cent, not 10 per cent,” he said.

According to the ABS, the state’s under-utilisation rate now sits at 17 per cent, with 19 per cent of women in South Australia and 14.7 of men who have previously been looking for work, giving up or working much fewer hours than they would like.

“The discouraged worker effect seems to be outweighing the worker effect in South Australia and as a result the participation rate in South Australia is falling,” Dr Barrett said.

SA Employment Minister Gail Gago said the latest figures represented an ageing workforce and a transition period from a reliance on old economies such as manufacturing to newer industries.

“We recognise the really difficult road ahead for many workers as we transition from the old economy to the new economy,” she told the ABC last week.

SA Minister for Employment Gail Gago says the state’s economy is transitioning.

No one understands the current hardship more than those witnessing it each day.

Just yesterday another reddit user posted a message offering support on the same Adelaide subreddit where Daniel Meredith sought help.

“Hi all, so since the unemployment rate doesn’t seem to be getting better and people are struggling, I wanted to offer my help to anyone who might need it,” they wrote.

“Happy to offer pantry items, toiletries, clothes, essentials to help anyone who needs it.”

“As someone who is unemployed but is getting by because my SO (significant other) supports us, I think that’s a really wonderful idea,” one user replied.

As for Mr Meredith, he said his outlook remained grim.

“Nor myself or my social circle have had much success finding employment and it appears through reddit and other media outlets and news services that the feeling is mutual across the state,” he said.