Key findings - Department of Employment Web viewEntry level positions are easily filled and...

Entry level jobs – opportunities and barriersJune 2015

Executive summaryThe Department spoke with around 1200 employers who were recruiting for Bar and beverage

attendants Café workers Labourers Receptionists Sales assistants WaitersFew employers will hire inexperienced workers.Entry level positions are easily filled and competition from job seekers is strong. Inexperienced job seekers face competition from experienced job seekers and have limited opportunities in these occupations.Employers don’t generally require applicants for these occupations to have vocational qualifications or extensive training.To be competitive, though, applicants may need tickets or licences relevant to the occupation (such as an RSA or Construction White Card).

Many young people gain their first job in Retail Trade, Accommodation and Food Services and Construction. These three industries, together, employ around half of all young workers (those aged 15 to 24 years).1

To understand the opportunities and barriers for young people who do not have work experience, the Department of Employment has undertaken research into six entry level occupations, within these industries.

Key findings 88% of surveyed vacancies were filled

43 applicants for each position 7 suitable applicants per vacancy

There are generally large numbers of applicants for these positions.

One third of employers were continuously or often approached by job seekers asking for work.

Lack of experience is a significant barrier. Only about 30% of jobs in these occupations are open to applicants without experience and, reflecting the strong competition for vacancies, some of these are filled by experienced workers.

The vast majority of applicants are considered by employers to be unsuitable (on average, there are around 36 unsuitable applicants for each vacancy). Despite this, employers generally have the choice of multiple suitable applicants.

A range of factors lead to employers regarding applicants as being unsuitable. Some are hard to address, like lack of experience, but candidates can work on many of the other factors (such as having a well presented application and maximising their hours of availability) to enhance their prospects.

Many employers (44%) had a positive view of young job seekers without experience, indicating they would employ them, but in practice they sought experienced applicants for their vacancies.

1 ABS Labour Force Survey, four quarter average to August 2015

Note: This report is the overall analysis of the Department of Employment’s research into entry level labour markets. Individual occupation reports are at: www.employment.gov.au/entry-level-labour-markets.

Labour Market Research and Analysis Branch, Department of Employment

ISBN

: 978

-1-7

6028

-609

-5

Barriers Lack of experience is a key barrier for young

people entering the labour market in these occupations, with relatively few vacancies being open to them.

There are large numbers of people looking for work in the reception and hospitality occupations. Employers for these occupations are generally unwilling to recruit workers who do not have specific experience in these fields.

Inexperience is the key reason for rejecting applicants, even if many of them have the qualities and attributes required for the job.

Lack of training or certification is not a major barrier to employment in these occupations, with employers’ requirements generally being for relatively easily obtained licences or certificates.

Not having reliable transport or a driver’s licence is often mentioned as a barrier. The ability to obtain a driver’s licence may be challenging for some young job seekers given the time and cost involved.

Employers often assume that candidates who have to travel a significant distance may be unreliable or will not stay long enough to make investing in training worthwhile.

The ability to demonstrate many of the main qualities and attributes employers seek in their workers also presents difficulties for many new job seekers. Even those candidates with excellent soft skills, may have difficulty getting past the shortlisting stage due to their lack of experience.

Opportunities Although there is strong applicant

competition, employers sometimes have difficulty finding the workers they need.

Opportunities exist across a variety of employment conditions, with permanent, casual, full-time and part-time jobs offered in these occupations.

Many employers have a positive view of school leavers, with about 44% saying they would consider hiring a school leaver or school age applicant without experience.

Overall, around half of surveyed employers were willing to take on someone with six months or less experience.

The survey highlighted that there are some relatively simple steps that job seekers can take to enhance their competitiveness, such aso following instructions when applyingo having a well presented applicationo demonstrating genuine interesto indicating availability and being flexibleo ensuring email addresses and social

media content are appropriateo reassuring the employer that they have

reliable transport o tailoring their personal presentation to

the businesso highlighting their soft skills.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that by applying early, applicants can enhance their prospects.o Some employers take on the first

applicant who meets their criteria.



Researching the business may help to show interest. Around one third of employers expected candidates to have researched their business, with some commenting those who do stand out.2

2 Due to changes to the survey, employers recruiting for receptionists were not asked this question.



Recruitment outcomes These vacancies are generally strongly contested by applicants and employers overall have little

difficulty recruiting (Figure 1).o Employers usually have the choice of multiple suitable applicants. The few vacancies which

remained unfilled generally attracted applicants but they did not meet the employers’ expectations.

o Despite attracting multiple applicants, employers recruiting for labourers and waiters have some difficulty finding workers who meet their skill and experience needs, and a higher proportion of these vacancies were unfilled.

A significant proportion of employers (21%) recruited applicants who exceeded their expectations. The proportions were notably higher for receptionist (28%) and bar and beverage attendant (26%) vacancies, but relatively low for labourer (12%) and waiter (15%) positions.o Just 6% of employers said that they recruited people whose skills fell short of their

expectations. The results suggest that some job seekers may shun labourer jobs. There is less competition for

these positions than there is for hospitality, sales and reception work, with fewer candidates (although there are generally multiple suitable applicants) and 20% of the surveyed vacancies were unfilled.

Just 18% of employers had not been approached by people seeking work in the past year. About 33% said they were continuously or often approached and 40% were occasionally or rarely approached.o Employers of bar and beverage attendants were the most likely to receive unsolicited job

applications, with almost half saying they are continuously or often approached.

Figure 1: Proportion of vacancies filled and applicant numbers, by occupation (ranked by proportion of vacancies filled)

Receptionist

Sales assistant

Bar and beverage staff

Café worker

All assessed occupations Waiter

Labourer0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

219 5 6 7 4 5

91

66

2742 36

21 14

97%93% 92% 89% 88% 86%

80%

Average no. of unsuitable applicants per vacancy (LHS)

Average no. of suitable applicants per vacancy (LHS)

% of vacancies filled (RHS)

no.

Department of Employment

By location The vast majority of vacancies were filled, regardless of location, although a slightly higher

proportion of metropolitan vacancies were filled than regional vacancies. Regional employers were more positive about applicants, considering around 20% to be

suitable (compared with 15% of applicants for metropolitan vacancies). There was no real difference between regional and metropolitan employers’ willingness to take

on a job seeker with no experience. Applicant competition was lowest in the Northern Territory (with 10 applicants per vacancy of

whom 2 were regarded as suitable, on average) but there are few unfilled vacancies.

Figure 2: Proportion of vacancies filled and number of applicants and suitable applicants, by location

Figure 2 shows a map of Australia that shows the percentage of vacancies filled and the average number of suitable and unsuitable applicants per vacancy.

New South Wales, 86% of vacancies were filled, there were 25 applicants per vacancy on average and there were 5 suitable applicants per vacancy on average. Victoria, 91% filled, 47 applicants, 5 suitable. Queensland, 90% filled, 66 applicants, 10 suitable. South Australia, 82% filled, 45 applicants, 8 suitable. Western Australia, 89% filled, 54 applicants, 8 suitable. Tasmania, 93% filled, 24 applicants, 7 suitable. Northern Territory, 91% filled, 10 applicants, 2 suitable. Australian Capital Territory, 85% filled, 45 applicants, 11 suitable.90% of metropolitan vacancies were filled, compared with 84% in regional areas. Metropolitan vacancies also attracted significantly larger numbers of applicants (48 applicants per vacancy compared with 28). Despite this, metropolitan and regional employers both considered a similar number of applicants to be suitable (7 and 6 respectively).

Experience requirements Almost 30% of vacancies were open to workers who did not have previous employment

experience.o Notably, though, 26% of these employers stated that they considered applicants for the

surveyed vacancy to be unsuitable due to lack of experience. While this seems at odds with their willingness to take on inexperienced applicants, it is likely to reflect these applicants being uncompetitive in the selection process against more experienced candidates.

o Very few vacancies for hospitality workers were open to people who did not have experience (just 16% of bar and beverage attendant vacancies, 22% of waiter vacancies and 27% of café worker vacancies).

A further 22% of employers would hire someone with little experience (six months or less). Almost all employers who sought experienced workers were seeking people who had worked in

the same industry or occupation as the advertised vacancy. While 44% of employers stated that they would consider recruiting a recent school leaver or

school-age applicant who did not have the required experience, in practice, most surveyed employers were seeking experienced workers.


Employers are most open to hiring inexperienced applicants for labourer and sales assistant vacancies.o The occupation least open to inexperienced school leavers is bar and beverage attendants

(reflecting, in part, the age requirement for this work). 3

o While a high proportion of employers recruiting for waiters said they would consider hiring school leavers without experience (52%), very few of these vacancies (22%, the second lowest share of all assessed occupations) were actually open to applicants who did not have experience.

Employers recruiting for hospitality occupations were also more prescriptive in terms of the type of previous experience they required (Figure 3).o Around 81% of employers seeking bar and beverage attendants specifically wanted workers

who had bar and beverage experience, 72% of those recruiting waiters required previous waiting experience and 65% of café worker employers required applicants who had previously worked in a café.

o By comparison, just 49% of employers seeking labourers and 51% of those recruiting receptionists required applicants with specific experience in these roles.

Figure 3: Proportion of employers seeking workers with experience related to the advertised position (%)

3 To serve alcohol and be eligible for a RSA, employees must be at least 18 years of age.Department of Employment

Personal qualities or attributes sought Around 45 different qualities and attributes were mentioned by surveyed employers as being

necessary for the advertised jobs. The most commonly noted requirements related to the following broad groupings:o qualities needed for effective customer service (50%)o self-management and attitude (49%)o reliability, responsibility and being punctual (28%)o communication skills (26%)o personal presentation (23%)o teamwork (20%)o interest, loyalty and commitment (10%).

Training, tickets and licences Overall, around half the surveyed employers required applicants who held specific tickets,

certificates or licences. There was, however, marked variation across occupations. Almost all employers recruiting for bar and beverage attendants sought applicants who already held an RSA, but very few required sales assistants to have any tickets, certificates or licences.

Employers, though, generally had a limited range of requirements and these were mostly for short course tickets and licences, rather than longer formal vocational training. o The most commonly mentioned tickets or licences were a RSA and RSG (largely for bar and

beverage attendants and waiters), a Construction White Card and a driver’s licence (both mainly for labourer positions).

o Just 2% of employers required a vocational qualification.o Sales assistant (just 9% of employers required workers with training or tickets, certificates,

and licences) and receptionist (13%) vacancies were the least likely to have training or accreditation requirements.

While almost all employers provided training for new starters, it was largely limited to on-the-job training and inductions.

Employers’ perceptions of school leavers Although around 47% of surveyed employers were unwilling to employ school leavers who did

not have the required experience, 44% noted that they would recruit school leavers (and another 4% indicated that they would if the applicant was 18 years of age or older; this was particularly the case for bar and beverage positions).o Sales assistant vacancies were the most open to employing inexperienced school leavers

(55% said they would). Most employers wanting to fill receptionist positions, however, were reluctant to recruit school leavers without the required experience, with only 39% commenting that they were open to this prospect.

In practice, the survey suggests that due to the competitive nature of the labour market, experienced workers are more readily employed.


Reasons for unsuitability Lack of experience was clearly the main reason applicants were considered to be unsuitable,

but inadequate availability for work hours (mentioned by 20% of employers) and poor presentation (10%) are also key factors. Other common reasons are summarised in Figure 4.

Some of these present barriers for young job seekers (such as lack of experience) but there is an opportunity for young people to boost their prospects by working on other attributes.

Figure 4: Most common reasons for applicants being considered unsuitable (% of employers mentioning, multiple responses allowed)

Lack of experience - 45 per cent

Availability - 20 per cent

Personal presentation - 10 per cent

Personality or 'fit' for the business - 10 per cent

Communication skills - 9 per cent

Lived too far away - 9 per cent of employers this as a reason for being considered unsuitable

A small number of employers commented about specific issues in relation to candidate presentation. Some rejected applicants who had tattoos, piercings and strong hair colour (these were the most commonly mentioned) while others accepted applicants with piercings as long as they were tidy or tattoos that were not offensive. Untidy, rumpled appearance or poor hygiene were also commonly mentioned.

Employers were asked if they expected candidates to have researched their business. Slightly more than one third stated that they did and a further 10% considered it to be advantageous to the candidate.4

What training is offered to new starters? About 80% of employers indicated that they offered on-the-job or in-house training. Just 4% of

all employers said that they did not offer any training, but the proportion was notably higher (13%) for those recruiting for labourers.

Training varied markedly by occupation, but coveredo Inductions or orientations (18%)o Fire, safety, first aid and Occupational Health and Safety (5%)o Buddy system or mentoring (4%)o Online training (1%).

4 Due to changes to the survey, employers recruiting for receptionists were not asked this question.Department of Employment

Methods of recruitment The most commonly mentioned methods of recruitment were using major online recruitment

websites (70%), other websites5 (31%) and newspapers (19%), followed by word of mouth (13%).

Figure 5: Top four methods of recruitment used (% of employers mentioning, multiple responses allowed)

Major online recruitment websites - 70 per cent of employers mentioned using this methodOther websites - 31 per centNewspapers - 19 per cent

Word of mouth - 13 per cent

More than half of the surveyed employers (53%) used multiple methods of recruitment. Almost all receptionist and sales assistant positions were placed on major online recruitment websites. Advertisements for café workers were much more likely to be advertised on smaller websites compared with the average across all the assessed occupations

While the major online recruitment websites were clearly the most common method of advertising, it is important to note that slightly less than one out of every three surveyed employers did not advertise on these sites. This highlights the importance of job seekers searching for job advertisements across a range of mediums.

Most employers (87%) used standard staff selection practices, that is, some combination or variation of shortlisting and interviewing. Around 40% of employers conducted a work trial or used a probation period (some for a few hours, others for three weeks or longer).

Employers recruiting for labourers were significantly more likely to recruit using just a phone interview, informal interview or chat (18%), compared with the average of 4%.

Small numbers of employers noted that they review social media sites, undertake drug and alcohol tests, seek police checks or do group interviews.

Employment arrangements6

Most employers were seeking permanent employees (59%), while around 19% indicated they were seeking to engage workers on a casual basis and a further 13% offered temporary or contract employment.

Around 59% of vacancies were for full-time hours, with 18% being part-time and 16% being positions with variable hours.

5 Includes free websites which offer a range of advertising services.6 Data on the status of employment and hours of work have been taken from an audit of vacancies that was undertaken prior to the survey. While employers were asked this question in the survey, many were confused about the terminology relating to the nature of the hours and status of vacancies.Department of Employment

Table 1: Status of employment

Employment Status % share

Permanent employee 59

Casual employee 19

Temporary or contract employee 13

Not stated or no response 9

Table 2: Hours of work

Weekly working hours % share

Full-time hours 59

Part-time hours 18

Variable hours 16

Hours not stated or no response 6

Around 71% of the surveyed vacancies across these six occupations required work outside usual business hours or at weekends (Figure 6).

There was no identifiable relationship between the hours of work and the competition for vacancies. o Receptionist vacancies are the most keenly contested by job seekers and they are the least

likely to require work on weekends or after common office business hours, but labourers are the next lowest ranked in these terms (they, however, have the least competitive labour market).

Figure 6: Proportion of employers seeking candidates to work outside usual business hours or on weekends, by occupation

Bar and beverage staff

Waiter

Sales assistant

Café worker

All assessed occupations

Labourer

Receptionist0

20

40

60

80

100 97 9785 81

71

46

23%


Key findings - Department of Employment Web viewEntry level positions are easily filled and...

Documents

Transcript of Key findings - Department of Employment Web viewEntry level positions are easily filled and...