80% of Job Seekers Say It Is Taking More Than 6 Months to Fina a New Job
Announcement posted by Project Displaced 16 Jun 2021
MEDIA RELEASE
80% of COVID-related Job Seekers Say It Is Taking More Than 6 Months To Find A New Job
Sydney, 16 June 2021: Despite the better-than-expected Australian economic data of the last few months, not-for-profit job and mental health support initiative Project Displaced says up to 80% of its community are finding it is taking more than 6 months to find a new job, compared to November last year when the average job search was taking 4 months or longer.
Research undertaken by Project Displaced in May 2021 analysed social and quantitative feedback from more than 800 unemployed people who have used Project Displaced’s services.
“We are really pleased to see that the long-term unemployment forecasts have performed better than anticipated but what we have discovered is that this optimistic outlook isn’t shared by everyone looking for a job right now, and that the enduring economic impacts of the pandemic are far-reaching” says Project Displaced founder, Anthony Cohen.
Anthony Cohen, himself a former Qantas employee, adds, “We are still seeing significant demand for Project Displaced’s career counselling – from Brisbane to Broome and everywhere in-between, although the majority still come from the larger city centres such as Melbourne and Sydney.”
Project Displaced is a registered Australian charity that supports displaced workers; offering free one-one-one and group classes that assist job seekers through the entire job search process, as well as specialised mental health first aid.
Since its inception in March 2020, the largest groups of unemployed people seeking help from Project Displaced are still from those industries which have been hit hardest by COVID-19: The airlines / aviation sector made up 45% of Project Displaced bookings, and 27% were from five distinct sectors (IT, Leisure / Travel, Marketing / Advertising / Sales, Events Services and Hospitality sectors).
Research summary points:
1. Soundbite: For those people still looking for a job, it’s taking them nearly three times as long to get a job compared to before COVID-19.
Evidence:
· Before COVID-19, research estimated it took approximately 82 days (just under 3 months) to get a job.
· In November 2020 80% of our network / community said they had been looking for a role or managed to secure a role in over 4 months.
· Our latest research says that today people are taking 6 months to secure a job or are still looking
2. Soundbite: Job hunting is long and emotionally draining
Evidence:
· Whilst 11% of respondents feel that there were no jobs available for people like them (with their skills or background),
o 39% said the length of time it is taking to go through the recruitment process is the most frustrating part of looking for a job right now
o A further 39% said that the emotional toll of job hunting is the most frustrating part of the process for them
Project Displaced has also seen an increase (more than 20%) in job seekers looking for help with their resilience and mental health during the job hunt. This is across both one-on-one coaching sessions and also the popular webinars they run on these subjects to try and help more job seekers.
3. Soundbite: 80% of job seekers are still struggling with transitioning to new industries after theirs has been decimated by the pandemic
Evidence:
· Polls of our community suggest that job seekers coming from the hardest hit industries (airline, travel, tourism, hospitality) are struggling to identify what latent or transferable skills they have and struggle with moving to a new industry (practically and mentally).
“The out-take is that the overall unemployment numbers don’t tell the complete story. Since the end of JobKeeper, some job seekers have taken any job they can find – even if it isn’t the right fit, or viable long-term – just to pay the bills. The emotional toil this is having on their own mental health and on the family unit is significant and we fear that we won’t see the full devastating impact of this for some time – which is why it is critical that services like ours are there to support those who continue to be impacted by job loss and underemployment” said Anthony Cohen.
Project Displaced has a number of former and current job seekers who are happy to be available for comment and to share their own job search stories and experience with Project Displaced.
About Project Displaced
Founded in March 2020 at the beginning of the COVID lockdowns, ProjectDisplaced is a non-profit organisation registered with the Australian Charity and Not-for-profits Commission that supports displaced workers; offering free one-one-one as well as group classes that assist job seekers through the entire job search process, as well as specialised mental health first aid.
We are independent, non-denominational and run entirely by volunteers with more than 70 qualified volunteers from the recruitment, human resources, business leadership, mindset coaching and mental health first aid sectors offering their services free of charge, 7 days a week.
We know that one of the most powerful tools a job seeker can have is a career coach – but coaching is expensive. We believe that everyone with a right to work in Australia should also have access to high quality, professional support to help them regain their confidence, change industries and get back into employment.
This includes providing free resume reviews, free interview preparation, career coaching, and mental health first aid that is provided by qualified HR practitioners and recruiters who generously volunteer their time and expertise to help our job seeker community.
Started by Sydney-based Anthony Cohen, who worked for Qantas for more than 16 years, his partner is an orchestral musician, and both have had their work contracts put on hold or cancelled. The COVID-19 crisis hit them and their extended network very personally, and this inspired Anthony to take direct action.
“We set up Project Displaced to help our community through this terrible and very sudden crisis,” explains Anthony. “After both my partner and I lost our jobs, I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing, so I came up with the idea of Project Displaced.”
Project Displaced is also recording the breadth and depth of the impact of this crisis across industries so that there may be a clearer picture of that impact.
Job seekers are encouraged to boom a free consultation or join any of the free group job search classes at the Project Displaced website; and join the community on Facebook.
https://projectdisplaced.org.au
https://facebook.com/ProjectDisplaced
ENDS – For further information or to arrange an interview please contact:
· Anthony Cohen on 0413 022 499 or info@projectdisplaced.com
· Sophie Blue on 0416 006 821 or Sophie.blue@blueplanetpr.com.au