The Youth Employment Dividend

All businesses consider their investments carefully; none more so than investments made in labour.  People are at the core of all business and represent the glue that brings everything else together – fuelling innovation, efficiency and better customer service to enable your business to thrive. 

As with most sustainable investments, it pays to adopt a diverse approach. 

So why is it, according to recent Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, young people are nearly three times more likely to be unemployed or underemployed than other age groups? And why aren’t businesses looking more to our youth to build and grow their business?  

Let’s focus on some of the positives of employing young people and the sustainable returns it provides for both the employing business and the young person. 

Diversity 

Regularly employing young people boosts diversity and protects against having an unrepresentative workforce. Young workers bring fresh and contemporary ways of working and thinking. They are comfortable with new and emerging technologies and can support your existing workforce – helping to keep your business up to date with customer expectations. 

Curiosity 

A major benefit of hiring young people is they bring tremendous curiosity to their work, asking lots of questions as they onboard and adapt: Why don’t we have some vegan options on our menu? What do we do with our excess food at the end of the day?  Would we reduce our impact on the environment if we updated this equipment or changed this process? Why don’t we offer a buy now-pay later option? 

Growth 

Young people will over-index with excitement when you employ them. They will be nervous (and may drop a few plates) but will learn and grow fast. Their growth will energise others working around them. They will become a team – often high-performing – boosting business by giving you happier customers and higher turnover, which you can then reinvest for everyone’s benefit. 

I think employers should reflect back on their first job, their first work experience and the growth they gained from that experience and pay it forward. Employing a young person can open doors, create new pathways and change that person’s life.  And funnily enough it can do the same for businesses strong enough to take a chance on someone who is young or inexperienced. 

If you are ready to make the investment give us a call at CVGT, we would love to introduce you to some amazing young people we know.