The Crisis of Confidence

The confidence crisis facing young Australians in the workforce

When it comes to the mental health of Australia’s youth you’d be forgiven for thinking there was nothing but doom and gloom on the horizon. And we get it! There’s a lot on their minds and with so much bad news at their fingertips combined with the urge to doom scroll the day away it’s easy to see why things may feel a little bleak.  

As so many young people and future jobseekers battle with the realities of everyday life while preparing to enter the job market for the very first time we wanted to find out how they were feeling about the working world at large.

In our endeavour to better understand the thoughts fears and expectations of young workers we conducted our annual Employment Survey. Within this survey we asked them about confidence in their skills whether they were working throughout the pandemic and how they were feeling overall.  

The verdict? Australia’s youth are struggling through a crisis of confidence.

It's all about getting the skills to pay the bills

Our survey revealed a whopping 25% of respondents didn’t feel skilled enough to seek entry-level positions despite these roles requiring little to no previous experience or professional skills. 30% felt too discouraged to even try to apply for these jobs. Based on our findings we now know that young workers are leaving school feeling underprepared and like they don’t know enough to apply for roles or land a job.

Worryingly it’s not just a perceived lack of skills that is discouraging them from entering or remaining in the workforce. 33% of respondents were working less (or not at all) due to additional mental health concerns. These numbers are similar across the board whether we're looking at women vs. men Gen Z vs. Millennials or white collar vs. blue collar.

So what’s the solution? While it may sound simple it won’t be easy.

We must continue to support businesses by ensuring employers have the skills and resources to create rich learning environments and the ability to bridge the gap when they don’t. When done well apprenticeship pathways for example provide a clear sense of direction autonomy coaching social connection and opportunities to learn and play to one’s strengths.

Danielle Buckley registered and coaching psychologist

Providing accurate quality free mental health support to young people as early as Year 7 and 8 could provide helpful pathways to dispelling many of their fears. Ensuring that high school curriculums contain basic skills-based or vocational training – not just apprenticeships or TAFE but generalised soft skills or work experience placement – could also help increase confidence and help a new generation feel equipped to enter into the working world.

And of course employers should ensure that their entry-level roles are just that – entry-level. If the role is being paid at a base rate then the skills and experience required should reflect that ensuring that young people with no experience have a chance to work and gain experience before moving on to bigger roles with more requirements.

There are some confident outliers

There was one big exception to this general trend of lowered confidence: those who had gone into pursuing trades and other VET courses after high school. Our findings showed that apprentices and trainees scored on average 10% higher than other young people on all the mental health markers we tested for.

There are a couple of possible reasons for this. Firstly VET courses often have an "earn while you learn" structure which means that trainees and apprentices will not feel the intense pressure of studying and also having to work part- or full-time to cover their course. Relieving the financial pressures on our young people whilst they get an education can go a long way to improving their general mental health and confidence. Secondly apprentices (especially in trades) are always in need: they're generally guaranteed to a higher-paying role sooner out of school and they're unlikely to ever find themselves out of work or unable to pursue opportunities.

How can we learn from those in the VET sector who are scoring well on their confidence happiness and hope for the future? It's difficult to say considering the many factors but it seems that for Australian youth at least taking on an apprenticeship or traineeship is a relatively well-assured pathway to success and confidence.

So, where do we go from here?

There's a lot more work to be done now, and Skillsroad is in a really great place to continue this important research and keep investigating the reasons behind these skills shortages. We'll keep working with our youth contingent and our employer base to ensure we keep trying to get at the crux of these problems, for the sake of our youth and for Australia's working future.

This is just one of the great insights we've found inside our 2021/22  Report, and with 24 pages of vital information we're almost certain you'll learn something you didn't expect. You can view and download a free copy of our Employment Survey Report below.