6245.0 - Successful and Unsuccessful Job Search Experience, Australia, Jul 2000  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 06/06/2001   
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MEDIA RELEASE

June 6, 2001
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
65/2001

Three quarters of jobseekers successful in 1999-2000

People looking for work in the 12 months to July 2000 were more likely to be successful than their counterparts two years previously, an ABS survey has shown.

An estimated 1,939,200 Australians or 76% of all jobseekers were successful in obtaining a job in the 12 months to July 2000, 14% greater than for the same period to July 1998.

Results from the survey Successful and Unsuccessful Job Search Experience, Australia show that 58% of successful jobseekers were out of work prior to starting their job, while 42% were changing employers. Some 12% of successful jobseekers started work in the first job they had ever held.

More than one-third (39%) of all successful jobseekers were young jobseekers (those aged 15-24 years) compared to 4% for those aged 55 and over. Older jobseekers were more likely to have spent a longer time looking for work than their younger counterparts. Some 15% of older jobseekers had spent one or more years looking for work before finding a job, compared to just 4% of young jobseekers.

The survey showed that 21% (or 407,400) of successful jobseekers spent less than four weeks looking for work and 6% (or 120,000) had looked for one year or more.

The survey also found that an estimated 613,300 people (or 24% of all jobseekers) had unsuccessfully looked for a job in the 12 months to July 2000, a decrease of 20% from July 1998. Most unsuccessful jobseekers were male (53%) and one-third (33%) were aged 15-24 years.

About one-third (34%) of unsuccessful jobseekers (or 206,700) had spent the entire year looking for work, and 60% did not have a post-school qualification.

Further details can be found in Successful and Unsuccessful Job Search Experience, Australia, July 2000 (cat. no. 6245.0) available from ABS Bookshops.