Anglicare report reveals Australia’s entry-level job crisis as 39 job seekers compete for every vacancy

Labor is being urged to take action after a new national report revealed Australia’s most vulnerable job seekers are being squeezed out of the workforce. Anglicare Australia’s Jobs Availability Snapshot 2025, released on Thursday, paints a stark picture of a labour market where older Australians, people with disability and those without formal qualifications are being forced to compete for jobs that simply no longer exist. The annual analysis tracks how many positions are realistically open to people without recent experience or training. This year’s findings show an unprecedented mismatch, with 39 people on JobSeeker fighting for every entry-level vacancy and 25 of them facing significant barriers to work, the highest ratio in the report’s history. To ensure vulnerable communities aren’t left behind, Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers said the federal government had to be courageous to ensure meaningful reform. “I do think there are some real vested interests in employment services. That’s really obvious,” she said. “These are multimillion-dollar contracts, and it’s going to take quite some bravery to take those away.” Ms Chambers said the annual report’s results pointed to a system fundamentally failing the people relying on it, in particular the employment services model, which she described as a “failed experiment”. ‘Disappearing’ jobs Ms Chambers said the job market was no longer generating enough realistic opportunities for those who need them most, with entry-level positions now making up just 11 per cent of all vacancies, their lowest share in 10 years. “These are older Australians, people with disability, or people who didn’t finish school,” Ms Chambers said. “They are looking for jobs they can actually do, but those jobs are disappearing.” Ms Chambers said many of the jobseekers overlooked each year were people who were perfectly willing to work, but the industries and roles suited to them were shrinking rapidly. She noted that despite their determination, the odds were stacked so heavily against them that many were left stranded regardless of their efforts. “What they need is a fair go and a system that helps, not hinders, their efforts,” Ms Chambers said. “When people are given real opportunities and a fair income, they seize them.” She described Australia’s employment services model as one that continued to punish jobseekers while delivering profits to private providers, arguing that billions in taxpayer funding was being poured into a system more focused on compliance than results. “Meanwhile, people are stuck in endless appointments and meaningless activities, all while competing for jobs that simply aren’t there,” she said. Ms Chambers said this approach had been in place for more than two decades and long-term unemployment has only worsened during that time. She also urged the government to lift Centrelink payments, arguing that people should not be forced into poverty when so few appropriate jobs exist. “The people we work with every day are ready to contribute. What they need is a fair go and a system that helps, not hinders, their efforts,” she said. Ms Chambers said the solution was to provide people with real opportunities and the financial stability to pursue them. “When people are given real opportunities and a fair income, they seize them.”