The disaster of youth unemployment.

Recent figures show a blip in the Illawarra unemployment rate from 4.7% to 6.1% in just one month. This compares with the New South Wales rate which has been unchanged at 4.4%.
This short increase is understandable. Two factors had a big impact because both occurred within the time frame. Telstra closed a national call centre in Wollongong and Bluescope Steel discontinued it's tin mill. Those unemployed as a consequence are mostly mature workers and it is likely that the increase will even out in the short term.
What is nothing short of a calamity is the youth unemployment rate which remains at 44.5%.
We are nearing the close of another year and that will bring a further influx of young people leaving school - and on present indications many of them will join the dole cheque, adding to an army of young people who are well on the way from going from being unemployed - to being unemployable.
Most young people leave school with enthusiasm, looking forward to getting a job and earning their own money. It doesn't take long for despair to turn to depression as countless job interviews prove fruitless - and for a sunny outlook to turn bleak and head in a direction where work is no longer an option.
Unfortunately our education system leaves a lot to be desired. Many school leavers are virtually illiterate - lacking numeracy and writing skills that are a must in this day and age.
The manual jobs of yesteryear are long gone. No longer does the council, the Water board, the Roads authority and a plethora of other departments maintain work gangs of young labourers.
Work is no longer done with a pick and shovel. These days a small work gang arrives with an excavator on the back of their truck - and that gang is a group of multi-skilled professionals.
Sadly, there is plenty of work offering and most of it pays good salaries - but it is not based in Wollongong. The Armed Services are crying out for recruits - and there are job shortages in the mining boom areas of Western Australia and Queensland.
It seems that the answer to the disastrous youth unemployment rates in the Illawarra is two-fold. We need an upgraded education system that prepared school leavers with the skills that the market requires - and we need to convince our young people that they need to go to where the work is offering.