Job-seeker Kate Proud, an ANU masters student, has just moved to Canberra and has applied for 20 casual or part-time jobs at cafes and shops in the past two weeks.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After being overwhelmed by the "sheer number of applicants", one small business invited her to a group interview, a time-saving measure long the hallmark of big employers.
Experts voiced concerns on Tuesday about the changes to the work-for-the-dole program, which would force young job seekers to apply for 40 jobs a month, citing a disconnect between the changes and the labour market.
John Buchanan, director of the Workplace Research Centre at the University of Sydney, said the changes could not address an overall "weakness" in the labour market. Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said she was concerned about the "practicality" of the 40-job-application rule "in the current softening labour market''.
A Deloitte Access Economics report last month revealed Canberra's retail sector was the weakest of all states and territories: sales in fell 2.5 per cent in the March quarter and job gains were limited.
While the program doesn't start until July 1 next year, even now securing low-skilled jobs in the ACT is increasingly competitive for some. An established retailer told Ms Proud during the initial phone interview the store had never had so many applications for a sales assistant role.
Tom Redmond, 23, is a forth-year commerce student looking for part-time work.
"I'm mostly looking for work in kitchens, to be a dish pig, which is not a very high skilled type of work, and have been looking probably for two to three weeks now.
"I've dropped my resume into 10 or 12 different places in person," Mr Redmond said. "I'm a little bit concerned I haven't [heard back]. I think it's largely a lack of experience, but I will keep on applying and I've got a busy week ahead doing it."
Concern was raised that small businesses might be "inundated" with poorly targeted applications, Peter Strong of the Council of Small Business of Australia said on Tuesday.
Kate Wellington, manager at the The Essential Ingredient in Kingston, said she had been advertising a job at her store for three weeks and had got "junk, spamming type of applications with no resume attached".
She said no one had entered the store in person and applied.
