Minterim

Team Name

Hack to the Future

Team Members

Project Description

We are hack-to-the-future.

A team of 6 people submitting an entry to Gov Hack 2020. Made up of Developers, Electrical, Mechanical and Software Engineers in different States.

For our team submission we have chosen to focus on the following challenge:

Challenge: Data, Job-Seekers & Digital Employment Services.

While working through this Challenge during the Gov Hack weekend, we uncovered a series of problems facing the DESE.

Here are 6 of these problems:

Problem 1: a record number and rapidly growing 1.3 million case load of unemployed people in Australia.

Problem 2: large percentage of job seekers / unemployed people now actively doing their searching alone without the use of a govt employment service provider. (90%+ technological literacy in Australia; smartphones with hot spot capability in remote and regional Australia); DESE wants to ensure that digital self-management of job search without an employment services provider is responsive and suitable for job seekers.

Problem 3: due to COVID-19, Australians in certain industries, skill fields & businesses are now having to look at other skills / areas of work due to their places of employment closing. Many businesses simply won’t have the finances to reopen after COVID-19.

Problem 4: job seekers without any references or experience in a particular field or skill will face difficulties in being able to find paid employment in a different career path (even more so during these new COVID-19 times that we live in as fewer and fewer job vacancies exist).

Problem 5: not every job seeker is fully computer literate so any online services for job seekers needs to be ultra-simple to cater for the lower level literacy client base segment.

Problem 6: the traditional story is finished off getting qualifications in one profession and staying in 1 company for the rest of your life.
People are now being required to get one skill / job, profession as a stepping stone to another skill /job.

Data Story

During the gov hack weekend we looked at both the datasets provided via the gov hack as well as sourcing additional datasets.

While looking at the datasets we asked a series of questions including:

What suburbs are the unemployed?
What ages are the unemployed?
How long have they been unemployed?
What are the barriers to each person being unemployed?
How many are comfortable using online employment services?
How to communicate with the unemployed clients?
In what suburbs in Australia do we have the largest increase in unemployed people?
In what suburbs in Australia do we have the largest number of unemployed people wanting face to face support looking for work (so that dese can properly allocate resources to those locations)?
Are there any areas of employment where Australia has a skills shortage?
Which skills are in highest demand by Australian employers?
Which occupations require the least skills at the entry level?
Which parts of Australia has the largest job vacancies and what jobs are they?

1. From the data that we gathered we felt that a there was a solution that could help job seekers to maintain their mutual obligations in regards to receiving social security payments on the one hand, as well as enhance their employable and chances of finding full time work.

2. The data also suggested that a large percentage of the unemployed case load, particularly those that had entered the work force during COVID-19 were reasonably technologically literate.

3. Data on wireless connectivity across Australia suggested that many job seekers located in regional and remote Australia are now much more able to use their phones as a hotspot to access the internet on their computers using their phones as personal hotspots and so be able to access online job search support services.

4. Data suggested a critical challenge for job seekers not being able to win employment was a lack of references and work experiences in the fields / skill areas that they were wishing to find jobs in.

5. Data emphasised trends of a future workforce – in which one must be a life long learner and the low likelihood of staying in one job/industry. How can we help those looking to transition?

Solution:
There are two phases for our solution.
- The first phase involves a platform that facilitates matching between unpaid short-term work experiences (from employers) with job seekers. With an emphasis on a recommendation system. This is mainly powered by the Job seeker data set (identify demographics of greatest need), skill shortage data set (highlight tasks with greatest employment need), and digital inclusion data set (understand digital accessibility).

• The second phase is future feature, on generating skill trees to better guide professional development decisions and illustrate a path to an intended career. This is powered by user-generated data – profile and job listing data on Minterim and Jobactive.

Impact:
1. Job seekers completing work tasks could be made to count towards fulfilling mutual obligations while actually improving employability from the experience and skills gained.

1. Addressing the shift towards reliance of digital employment services – this solution benefits many and helps Australia employment landscape recover quicker post-COVID.

2. Greater accessibility to digital services is a positive factor we can use to address COVID-19 created 'gaps' in employment.

3. Recommendation system is what lowers risk for employers and also establishes new networks – allowing job seekers to better access the 'hidden' job market.

4. Skill trees – a graphical representation of what skills could lead to a desired role. Thus, helping guide the professional development of those looking to transition.

For more information please also refer to the following:

Powerpoint pitch deck slide show: https://hack-to-the-future.website/solution/
3 minute video: https://hack-to-the-future.website/video/
Website app: https://minterim.now.sh
Evidence depository: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wr9uGU2vy6S_qo-yj8xiYVRURCqr1nYj?usp=sharing
Team website: https://hack-to-the-future.website/