My name is Oliver Smuhar and I love to read books, draw and write. As I’ve been studying for my HSC, I’ve been looking towards the future to see what possibilities are out there for me as a storyteller. I have a dream job, I want to make stories, and I’ve been working hard to achieve this goal, self-publishing my debut novel, The Gifts of Life, on July 21st, 2018, just five weeks before my Trial Examinations. 

However, as I look into the many industries that are available to me, and because I’ve been learning more about outsourcing through MidCoast Digital and what it means in Australia, I feel as though my goals are now unachievable. 

Carl John Fechner writes, “outsourcing is an increasingly popular business model in Australia. According to a recent market research report by IbisWorld, it’s been growing by about 1.2% per year from 2013 to 2018, with a projected revenue of 32 billion dollars this year.” 

These statistics scare me! If Australian businesses are outsourcing more and more, because it is financially beneficial, by the time I graduate from my double degree at university, in 2023, the outsourcing model will have increased by 12% from 2013 (the year I started high school). Moreover, this means that 12% of people my age will be missing out on job opportunities in careers like engineering, I.T., science, marketing, communications, teaching, medicine, mathematics, and many others, which all take 3+ years of further education after graduating high school. This is more evident from the governmental statistics by Guy Woods, that highlight that the most outsourced jobs in Australia are those in which people need degrees.

How are people from my generation expected to get careers in these dream jobs we’ve been studying for, if all of the job opportunities are given to people from overseas? What is the point of studying if I miss my opportunity to have a chance at obtaining the job I want?

This is why #SOYT, Support Our Youth Today, should be relabelled as #SAKT, Sponsor Aussie Kids Today. Not only does it feel unfair that I need to pay for my education, but how am I expected to pay off my HECS if I have less of an opportunity to get financial income or even a job at the end of studying?

Our Government and corporate Australia are spending billions offshoring and outsourcing. What impacts will this have for my family and friends’ families?  What does this mean to our regional areas? Will we have more people in debt? How can we pay for our education? What if something happens to the world and Australian businesses can’t rely on outsourcing anymore?  

I know that no one likes being the second option. Don’t take away our jobs after we’ve paid so much money/time to get the necessary requirements for the jobs we desire. If we don’t sponsor Aussie kids today, what will our future look like?  When jobs go offshore, we already feel like we’ve been sacked.

Oliver Smuhar #SAKT 2018 participant