Jobs crisis not just about Holden: SACOSS

South Australia must look beyond the Holden shutdown and deal with underemployment, the state's peak welfare group says.

More than 150,000 people - or almost 18 per cent of the workforce - can't find enough hours, according to the South Australian Council of Social Service's budget submission.

It's calling for the doubling of SA's public sector trainee and graduate program to 400 positions per year.

SACOSS has also backed Business SA's push for the reintroduction of a payroll tax exemption on wages paid to apprentices and trainees.

It says the government has rightly focused on the closure of Holden's assembly plant next year, which will put more than 1000 people out of work.

"But it's not just Holden workers who need assistance," chief executive Ross Womersley said on Monday.

He wants more money for adult education centres and subsidised training places for private providers reinstated.

The latest jobs figures show that SA's unemployment rate remains the nation's highest at 7.1 per cent.

KEY SACOSS RECOMMENDATIONS:

* Give concession holders free public transport between 9am and 3pm

* Increase the Community Benefit Fund (one-off funding for not-for-profits) to $6 million a year

* Extend the Building Family Opportunities pilot (for jobless families in Adelaide and regional areas) for at least three years

* Remove training course fees for people on the dole