Unemployment – just the facts please

More than 1000 jobs were axed in the past week alone. Building products maker Boral will cut 700 office jobs, while BlueScope Steel plans to sack 170 workers at its Hastings plant in Victoria. Vodafone is set to close or rebrand Crazy John's chain of mobile phone stores by February 20, putting at risk about 300 jobs across Australia.

What we're also seeing is that people are leaving the workforce. In part that is due to the some of the Boomers getting out, people leaving on overseas holidays, or caring for the kids - but a lot are discouraged workers are certainly frustrated by the lack of transparency and accountability in the recruitment industry (which is growing).

It's also taking the unemployed much longer to find work. The Job Search Experience survey shows Australians are spending an average of 40 weeks unemployed, an increase of 4.8 weeks from 2011. Long term unemployed people are pushing the figures up.

Spare a moment to consider the plight of the 80,000 mature-aged joblessness. So far the Government has done almost nothing to help these people. Employers can access the $1000 Jobs Bonus for each older job seeker they hire and employ for at least three months.

The Jobs Bonus scheme is a complete waste of time and smacks of tokenism. How many will stay in the job after the three-month qualifying period is over and the employer has banked the $1000 cheque?