November 5 2011

For most of us, having a job to go to each day is taken for granted. That job is part of the person we are, it provides the framework around which we build our lives. It also provides the cash we need to do the things we want. That's not the reality, however, for a large number of young people. Youth unemployment is at an all time high and rising. Reporter SUE NEWMAN talks to some of those Ashburton people for whom finding a meaningful job is proving an elusive dream.

Youth unemployment, it's one of this country's greatest shames.
The numbers are appalling and it's not just somewhere else on someone else's patch, it's happening right here in hometown Ashburton too.
Check out the stats. For the September quarter this year there were 274 people on Work and Income's books registered as looking for jobs; 38.7 per cent or about 106 of those were classified as youth – 18 to 24-year-olds.
These are not just any kids. They're your kids, my kids, the neighbour's kids.
They're good, ordinary young people, most of whom grew up in this district, were educated here and who hoped to earn a living here.
But they're not.
Somewhere between school and today something's gone wrong.
The figures are easy to dismiss, if you're comfortably employed you can turn your back, but meet these kids and you can't help but feel society's dealt them a rough hand.
Yes, there are some who don't want to find jobs.
They're the minority. What eats away at the good, honest, jobseeking kids is that most people tar them all with the same brush – dole bludgers.
That's a label that's hard to ignore, you see it in people's eyes when they ask you what you do, one girl said, and it makes you feel bad, bad about yourself and bad about the situation you've found yourself in.
Ashburton's unemployed young people are not left to fend for themselves, however.
There's plenty of help available from trained WINZ staff – if they want to take it. And take it 12 young unemployed people did this week.
Work broker Russell Woods decided to provide a bit of a kick-start to the job search process and sent invitations to a number of unemployed youth to attend a weeklong seminar.
The seminar would have just one goal – getting the maximum number of jobseekers into jobs.
The seminar was pretty simple in format – looking at their interest and looking for work incomes that matched, Russell said.
The young jobseekers also talked about the reality of looking for work, about picking up the weekend papers and finding 40 jobs advertised, but realising that none were jobs they could apply for.
"Virtually all of those jobs required training, experience or qualifications. These young people just need a chance to get a foot in the door."
Russell's seminar appeared to have given some of them just that.
Earlier he'd contacted possible employers, checked out vacancies.
Those on the course were given a chance to make those vacancies their own. And several did.
"From the start of the week we tried to get a feel of what these guys would have an interest in for work, we approached employers and it's been all go."
By day three the original 12 was beginning to whittle down; at least three had jobs, a couple more had interviews lined up. This was success in action.
"One of the young guys was interviewed, got a job the next day and now is lined up for an apprenticeship and this shows the other kids that you can have success." Russell said.
That 12 jobseekers were prepared to make the weeklong commitment was a big tick for their determination to find work, he said, but most approached the seminar with a bit of apprehension, unsure what they'd be required to do and anxious about the outcome.
By day four they were buzzing. Those who had jobs were looking at a very different future; those who hadn't quite managed to find work were still feeling a lot more positive about their chances, but inevitably that was still tinged with the chilly reality of knowing that nothing in the workplace had changed.
The successful jobseekers had moved into work in engineering, food processing and meat processing industries, but it was proving a bit tougher to find jobs in retail and hospitality.
"I've spent a lot of time talking to employers and asking them to think about hiring people.
"These guys have put their hands up and said they want to work, they're really keen jobseekers and you can see they're keen.
"They've turned up here every day and some days they're here early.
"That's commitment."
For many young jobseekers the two biggest stumbling blocks to securing a job were failing to have a full driver's licence and the lack of public transport in Ashburton, Russell said.
"These guys are all biking or walking miles now to get to interviews or to things like this seminar and that's all good when the weather's okay, but it's not so good when it's dark or wet or work's out of town."
Experience continues to be their biggest hurdle and it's the one that is the most difficult to overcome, he said.
"But one of the most demoralising things for them is that most applying for jobs never hear back and that's disappointing.
"They've made an effort to apply, they get their hopes up and then they don't hear anything; that's disappointing."
Even a no is better than nothing because it opened up an opportunity for dialogue, to ask what they could have done differently, Russell said.

Pictured: Ashburton work broker Russell Woods, centre with a group of young Ashburton people who have either found, or are looking for work through Work and Income, from left Phillip Tomas, Nathan Everett, Katie Bell and Kerriann Pinnell.

Photo Tetsuro Mitomo