The initiative was launched by Sureway Employment and Training at a breakfast for the city's business leaders yesterday, with Wallabies icon Mark Ella imploring them to get behind the city's youth.

"(Youth unemployment) is the biggest challenge for governments, it's the biggest challenge for communities - particularly in regional (areas)," he said.

"There aren't the jobs there for a lot of these guys."

The difficulty young people have finding jobs these days is an issue close to Mr Ella's heart, with his son having struggled for the past four years in his search for a job.

If the roll-up at yesterday's breakfast is anything to go by - with about 100 people turning out - Wagga's businesses appear to be getting right behind the Providing the First Step for Our Youth project.

Mr Ella shared anecdotes from his legendary rugby career with the gathering, many of which drew parallels with the challenges associated with the present-day youth employment landscape.

Sureway founding director Judy Galloway is keen to see Wagga's business community give the city's youth a helping hand.

"(I'd like to see businesses) give those young people a go and to make sure they put them into their workplace with some support," she said.

"Most of them are really keen to have an opportunity to work.

"Some of them are probably doing four hours a week in a retail shop, but so that we can overcome this issue, they need some full-time employment."

NEARLY two in every five people that visit Sureway for assistance in finding a job in Wagga are aged between 15 and 24 - a damning statistic highlighting just how deep the city's youth unemployment crisis is.

Nationwide, the youth unemployment rate in regional areas is around 18 per cent - close to 4 per cent higher than the national average when factoring in the cities.

For Sureway founding director Judy Galloway, those statistics are "substantial" and deeply concerning.

"If we don't do something about youth unemployment, what we're doing is creating an underclass," she said.

"This is in a community that's affluent - we just can't afford to do that."

Former Wallabies captain Mark Ella, who addressed a breakfast of Wagga business leaders yesterday about the issue, has a solution for young jobseekers he learned during his playing days - believe in yourself and be prepared to work to achieve your goals.

"Sometimes, as glum as it may look, there's always hope but you've got to work hard for it," he said.

"You don't get rewarded or get a job because you're lucky, you've actually got to work hard."

But at the same time, Mr Ella believes businesses also need to be part of the solution by being prepared to "take a gamble" on young workers and give them the experience they need to get a foothold in the workforce.