G20 must be creative on jobs for sake of youth

The Gillard Government can be expected to support skills training and social welfare reforms to protect young people from the crisis. Recent government initiatives, such as the Jobs and Training Compact, have focused on providing special assistance for those in disadvantaged groups as well as an increased investment in training and skills development. The Government's 2011-12 Budget also allocated an additional $3 million to upgrade skills and develop human capital to alleviate skills shortages and to prepare the country for sustained growth in the resources sector.

Few countries though are blessed with a skills shortage and skill reallocation offers very little margin for growth outside of Australia.

Sustained job creation ultimately requires confidence in the markets.

Confidence levels have been low during the last two years as governments have wheeled out strict austerity measures. While these measures have made important progress on reigning in world debt, now may be the time to reboot the economy through further fiscal stimulus.

According to the OECD's November 2011 Economic Outlook, half of all OECD countries had space to implement stimulus measures. General Secretary of the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC), John Evans, is also calling for countries with enough fiscal flexibility to inject stimulus into their economies.

In an integrated international economy, fiscal stimulus in countries such as China and Australia will have a positive flow on effect to countries hit hardest by the downturn.

Innovative measures such as fiscal stimulus are needed to restore global confidence and to help young people through the crisis.

Australia's politically driven budget surplus though does not send the right message to young people and Australia will need to be more flexible in Los Cabos in order to resolve the unemployment crisis.