JobFaker: Grants Aussies Under 35 Jobs, Leaves Older Gen Jobless

Under the Government’s JobMaker Hiring Credit 450,000 jobs will be proffered to young people and an upshot of Aussie over 35 will be penurious, hapless and jobless.

The scheme will provide employers, who hire workers aged 16-30, $200 per week and only $100 per week for any workers aged 30-35.

For employers to be eligible, new employees must be present on JobSeeker and be given at least 20 hours of weekly work. All businesses except for major banks will be liable for the scheme.

The Federal Opposition has targeted employment and job security in its audit of the Federal Budget.

Federal Opposition leader Anthony Albanese underlined that workers over 35 will be the  major flaw of the budget. 

“And if you’re over 35, you’ll be competing against people who are being given some wage support. So, you’ll be at a disadvantage,” he said.

Mr Albanese said there were over 900,000 people who were currently aged over 35 and on unemployment benefits in Australia.

“We don’t think those people should be just thrown on the scrap heap. We want to see people put into work, young people as well as older workers,” he says.

Similarly, Shadow Minister for Employment and Industry Brendan O’Connor and Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers were just as cynical of the Federal Budget.

“If Scott Morrison was serious about driving down unemployment and kickstarting the recovery, he would not be excluding almost a million Australians,” they said.

“These Australians are rapidly approaching the JobSeeker Christmas cliff with no certainty about the future of their support payments and will now find themselves competing with a subsidised younger workforce.”

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg completed the quintessential post-Budget day media tour on Wednesday, highlighting the Government’s plan for Australia’s economic outlook.

During his appearance at the National Press Club, the Treasurer was questioned about the possibility of employers evading the system.

Mr Frydenberg said businesses that take up wage subsidies for hiring young workers will be mandated to a two-pronged test to ensure they are not evading the new scheme.

Ian Yates, chief executive of Council Of The Ageing (COTA) said it was concerning that the Government only provided supplements to support young people without a parallel for older workers.

“We support the targeting of younger Australians as a vulnerable group. What we’re worried about is there’s not a parallel targeting for those mature and older workers, who are also and equally vulnerable,” he said.

“They find it very hard after economic crises to get back into the workforce at a time when they’re trying to support themselves and pay for their retirement.”

“[Workers over 35] are often the first off to be made redundant,” said Mr Yates.