An employment forum last week may have given young multicultural people across the west a foothold on the career ladder.
The Centre for Multicultural Youth (CMY) hosted an employment forum for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) youth at the VISY Cares Hub in Sunshine last Tuesday.
The audience had the opportunity to talk to employers and service providers in the transport, logistics and warehousing industries.
A 2014 CALD youth census report showed that while 94.7 per cent of CALD people aged 12-17 in Melbourne’s west were in full or part-time schooling, only 46.5 per cent of those aged 18-24 had full or part-time jobs.
That compares to 63 per cent of Australian-born youths in full or part-time employment.
“Overall, it’s clear that youth born in CALD and refugee countries have lower levels of workforce participation [than] their Australia- born counterparts,” the report reads.
“However, the data suggests that this gap narrows for second-born generations [of] youth with CALD and refugee ancestry.”
CMY youth support manager Bernadette Marantelli said the forum was all about bringing CALD youths and employers from across the west under one roof.
“Melbourne’s west is Victoria’s engine room and the transport, logistics and warehousing industry is growing in the western region,” she said.
“Meanwhile, multicultural young people are struggling to find employment in the area.
“CMY is bringing together employers, training providers and young people at this forum, [to] hear what employers expect from their workers, the opportunities in the industry and how to get into it.”
