23 Oct Today’s Youth, Tomorrow’s Workforce: Is Your Region Prepared?

Young people are the foundation of tomorrow’s workforce, but many regions are seeing challenges in youth employment and participation. From higher youth unemployment rates to a growing reliance on part-time and casual jobs, today’s patterns can shape the future workforce and regional growth.

What we often see in youth labour markets:

• Unemployment is higher for young people than older workers
• Part time and casual roles dominate, especially in retail, hospitality and tourism
• Education matters: many young people are studying or in training, delaying engagement with work.

These trends are worth watching closely. A strong youth labour market signals resilience and opportunity. Weak participation or rising unemployment may mean fewer young people staying, working, and contributing locally, leading to long-term consequences for communities.

Why This Matters

Regular monitoring of youth indicators helps to:

• Plan the future skills pipeline as older workers retire
• Target support to groups most at risk of long-term unemployment
• Align education and training pathways with real local opportunities
• Strengthen advocacy and funding applications with clear local evidence.

How Small Area Labour Force Reports Help

REMPLAN’s Small Area Labour Force (SALF) reports provide quarterly labour market data for every local government area in Australia, including youth indicators for your area. Use them to:

• Track youth outcomes quarterly: employment, unemployment rate, participation and labour force size
• Identify early signals: youth unemployment and participation reflect engagement with local work
• Understand local context: view jobs by industry to pinpoint potential entry level opportunities.

Delivered as a visual PDF and detailed Excel dataset, the reports are:

• Ready for use in council and state government reporting
• Presentation-ready for community updates
• Built for deeper analysis with up to 10 years of comparable data
• Available for local government areas across Australia
• Ideal for benchmarking and comparative analysis.

Download free SALF report

Purchase SALF report for your area

**Important – New 2025 Q2 SALF reports will be available from Wednesday 29 October.

The reports are delivered on a quarterly basis in two parts:

• PDF infographic report
• Excel spreadsheet with detailed data.

ABS Labour Force  >>  Jobs and Skills Australia SALM  >>  REMPLAN SALF

Do you require SALF reports for larger regions?

Are you seeking SALF reports for all local government areas in your state?

To discuss your specific requirements, or for further information on our range of products and services, please do not hesitate to contact the REMPLAN team, or call us now on 1300 737 443.