Youth Unemployment. Could Social Media Help Innovate?

“The nature of work is evolving and nobody really knows what it’s going to look like – Ian Harper, Deloitte Access Economics“.

Training Needs To Change

In 2013 teenage unemployment is at 42.6 per cent in northern Adelaide reminiscent of the early 1990s recession. Historically Northern Adelaide, Far North Queensland and outer western Melbourne consistently record the highest teenage unemployment rates in the country.

A detailed study released in July 2012 by the Government’s new Workforce and Productivity Agency finds that both industry and training institutions need to make big adjustments to keep up with a rapidly changing economy. More needs to be done to meet the demand for highly-skilled workers and to prevent increases in youth unemployment.

A Need To Upskill Workers

The message is that workers everywhere must be upskilled. It is important that a shift to higher skills does not leave the low-skilled and unskilled behind.

Strategies are needed to help disadvantaged groups gain skills and employment, including better matching of human capital with those regions and industries in need. Entry-level positions are needed for those waiting to get a foothold on the employment ladder.

We need to think of innovative ways of getting employers to think about how to use the capabilities their workers have, be more willing to train them.

Place-Based Solutions?

Localised, place-based solutions could provide a way forward for regions that are struggling with unemployment as well as those that cannot find enough workers to fill the existing opportunities, as with mining and construction.

“The role of the tertiary education sector is critical in meeting these challenges. How do we build generic skills and theoretical knowledge into our education system while also producing employees who have the practical skills that enable them to quickly function effectively in the workplace? How can they be ‘job-ready’ and employers be ‘graduate-ready’? What will be the impact of demand-led higher education and vocational education and training (VET)? Does more need to be done to foster STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects for Australia’s future competitiveness in the global marketplace?” Workforce and Productivity Agency

Focus On Education And Training

Anglicare SA chief executive Peter Sandeman says governments could help with better integrated social and economic strategies such as an Office of the Northern Suburbs and a focus on education and training. He says:

“There is significant competition for every low-skilled job advertised in the northern suburbs.”

Could We Use Social media To Help?

Keeping in mind that it’s current systems that are failing NOT people, could we use social media to record grassroots observations and ideas – such as Peter Sandeman’s suggestion – to add some lateral thinking on ways to innovate?

Would our decisionmakers – in government, institutions and industry – be able to cope with such ‘openness’ and participate in a genuine two-way information exchange about how to achieve solutions to skills/employment problems?

I wonder..