Jobs and Skills Australia’s Recruitment Experiences and Outlook Survey (of around 1,000 employers each month) sought views about their experiences with First Nations job applicants and the kinds of strategies and programs employers typically used to assist successful First Nations applicants into the workplace.
Key findings
- First Nations applicants have a 70% success rate when applying for jobs and 93% of businesses who hired a First Nations applicant said the person had adjusted well in the workplace.
- Some 52% of businesses used strategies to assist First Nations applicants to transition into the job, with a buddy or mentoring system being most common however employers rarely adopted strategies such as Reconciliation Action Plans or cultural competency training for staff. Large businesses were more likely to adopt transition strategies (68%) than medium sized and small businesses (50% and 49%, respectively).
- Ten per cent of businesses accessed programs and subsidies when employing a First Nations applicant. The 93% success rate of job transitions cited by businesses suggests the lack of uptake of programs or subsidies is not having an impact on the successful transition of job applicants. Medium to small businesses were more likely to access a program and/or subsidy (12% and 11%, respectively) than large businesses (5%).
- Even though the transitions of applicants into small business’ workplaces are good (92%), First Nations applicants are less likely to be successful in getting a job in small businesses (61% of applicants) compared to medium to large businesses (82% and 73% respectively).