Young Australians aren't too hopeful about their career prospects or confident about their skills, claims a new report.
Indian IT giant Infosys conducted an international survey where 9000 young people, aged between 16-25, in nine countries – US, UK, China, Germany, France, Australia, Brazil, South Africa and India were surveyed.
1000 Australians and 1000 Indians, aged between 16-25, were surveyed for this report.
Main aim of this survey was to find out concerns, challenges and opportunities facing the young professionals in the surveyed countries.
The report titled ‘Amplifying Human Potential: Education and Skills for the Fourth Industrial Revolution” found that Australians do not feel too optimistic about their employment prospects. Australians were found to also have the lowest level of confidence in their job skills. Not just that, 49% Australians feels that Education has not prepared them for what to expect from working life.
Australia vs India, who fares better?
Key findings of the Survey:
- 70% of Australians felt negative about their employment prospects and feel that job prospects for them are worse than they were for their parent’s generation. Compared to this, only 49% Indians feel so.
- Only 53% Australians agreed that the education that they have received has been useful for their current job. India fared just a little better at 63% of the respondents feeling so.
- 49% of the surveyed Australians felt that education has not prepared them for what to expect from working life. That is the highest among all the countries surveyed.
- Australians were found to have the lowest level of confidence in their job skills (only 7%) compared to Indians (75%).
- Fewer than 20 per cent of Australians have a strong interest in computer coding or developing mobile apps – among the lowest of any country surveyed.
The report states, “Young people in education or entering the workforce in 2016 face the most turbulent, rapidly evolving labour market seen by any generation. The global economy is approaching a Fourth Industrial Revolution, driven by increasing automation of the labour market – enabled by rapid innovations in robotics, Artificial intelligence and smart technologies.”
Here’s how you can be prepared
Vandana Sikka, Chairperson of Infosys Foundation, USA has been quoted in the report saying, “Young students need to understand that education alone should not be expected to fully prepare them for a job, because the skills they need to be successful in their work will continually change as industries transform. Their success, therefore, will depend on their ability to learn and they must have a mindset of learning for life.”
