Only 13% of young Australians report being ‘very optimistic’ about their future and only 4% say they want to launch a startup

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Young Australians are pessimistic about finding jobs and are reluctant to take the risks associated with being entrepreneurial compared with those in emerging economies like China and India, research released by global consulting firm Infosys has found.

A survey of 1,000 16 to 25-year-olds in Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, the UK and the US, and 700 in South Africa, found just half of young Australians felt “optimistic” or “very optimistic’ about their futures.

This compared with 64% in India and 60% in China. Only 13% of young Australians felt “very optimistic” about their future, the lowest score of all the countries.

Youth unemployment is not a problem to be fixed with labour flexibility | Greg Jericho Read more

While 70% of young people in Brazil and Germany agreed that their education had prepared them for working life, this fell to 50% among Australian youth. Meanwhile, 70% of Australian 16 to 18-year-olds and 73% of 19 to 25-year-olds agreed job prospects were worse for them than for their parents’ generation.

“Young people have high expectations of their employers in relation to training and skills acquisition,” the report says.

“However, employers’ delivery of training falls well short of young employees’ aspirations.”

While young people are often perceived as being attracted to more entrepreneurial career paths, only 4% of Australian youth agreed that they wanted to launch a startup, indicating a strong aversion to risk, the report found. This compared with an overall average of 8%.

In December Malcolm Turnbull announced tax breaks for investors in startups to try to encourage more investment in the sector.

Professor Paul Kofman, dean of the University of Melbourne’s faculty of business and economics, said he found the findings surprising because he believes young Australians had reason to feel good about their job prospects.

“Many universities and vocational training institutions are now investing a lot in work-ready initiatives, like work experience in the field, and providing leadership opportunities that connects them to future employers,” he said.

Youth unemployment rate is worst for 20 years, compared with overall figure Read more

The loss of 18,500 part-time jobs late last year coincided with an increase of 17,600 full-time jobs, he added.

“I think the media reports bad news about employment more effectively than good news, and we always hear about company closures and job losses, so perhaps that attention is impacting how young people perceive their job opportunities,” Kofman said.

Matt Garbutt, the chief of staff of the Business Council of Australia, said the research showed that young people recognised they would need to retrain and re-skill multiple times during their working life.

“In this context it is vital young people are equipped with a broad base of skills – both technical skills and cognitive skills such as communication and the ability to work in a team, to enable them to be flexible and resilient,” he said.

“The council believes the education system has an important role to play in not only educating and training young people, but also providing opportunities for them to gain an understanding how businesses operate and the expectations of employers.”