From job keeper to job creator: It’s time to be proactive
As the third exogenous global shock of the 21st Century, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected individuals, families, and small-to-medium enterprises. The Federal Government’s response to COVID-19 has been reactionary from the outset and continues in this vein. Job Seeker and Job Keeper have been the mainstay and will remain so for the foreseeable future, albeit at a reduced rate. Australians need more and there should now be a focus on creating new entrepreneurial ventures based in specific entrepreneurial community-based ecosystems.
A job creation scheme should be placed on the table and implemented with haste. Microfinance with a focus on self-employment and income generation is one such model that should be pursued. Providing equal opportunities for poor and unemployed people to access financial resources in the form of low interest or even interest-free microfinance loans will contribute to fostering a sense of meaning and direction, during this time of uncertainty.
The Australian values of pulling together, mateship, and backing the underdog would undoubtedly support such community-based ventures, contributing to building resilience. Today’s business environment is facing unprecedented shocks, economic turmoil, and perturbations, exposing businesses, individuals, and families to high levels of vulnerability and threats to survival.
The current policies being pursued to manage it, have made targeted programs and creative solutions even more prescient. No more so than for small-to-medium enterprises in tourism & hospitality, retail, and cafes & restaurants. The COVID-19 pandemic has put stayed to growth and pushed an almost unprecedented number into unemployment and SMEs into receivership.
Is there a role for the establishment of a tailored job creation scheme, where the Federal Government provides tailored financial support for new entrepreneurial formation, particularly for young adults and the disadvantaged?
A government-led job creation scheme would foster independence and a sense of empowerment in individuals and communities, shifting away from a dependency on handouts. Accordingly, Australia’s institutionalised comprehensive safety net program should be extended to tap into the nascent entrepreneurial population.
Structural unemployment could be alleviated through the implementation of institutional mechanisms to enable equal opportunities for poor and unemployed people to access financial resources in the form of low interest or even interest-free microfinance loans.
Microfinance with a focus on self-employment and income generation is one such model pioneered by the 2006 Nobel Laureate, Professor Muhammad Yunus, who established the Grameen Bank. The Grameen Bank has been replicated in over 40 countries, including the USA. A Grameen Bank style program that has a local community focus could play a key part here.
The strategic goal would be to connect financially disadvantaged people to the neo economic value chain and increase their income, assets, and ultimately living standards. The personal gains together with fostering a sense of meaning and direction would be invaluable. Australian values of pulling together, mateship, and camaraderie would undoubtedly support these ventures, contributing to community esprit de corp.
Kosmas Smyrnios is a Professor of Family Business Entrepreneurship in the School of Management, at RMIT’s College of Business and Law.
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