Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will make changes to the JobMaker hiring credit scheme after corporate leaders shunned the $4 billion program.
The scheme has delivered just 521 jobs in its first six weeks.
Treasury predicted 10,000 jobs would be created by this stage in the program, which is expected to generate a total of 450,000 jobs.
Mr Frydenberg is preparing to tweak eligibility requirements in the May budget but is adamant the age cap for recipients will remain.
"While the JobMaker program is still in its early stages, given the take-up to date the government will examine its criteria and settings in the context of the budget," he told the Australian Financial Review.
Mr Frydenberg said while overall employment had recovered to pre-pandemic levels, this was not the case for people aged under 35.
"It is precisely this challenge of getting younger people into work that is the motivation behind the JobMaker hiring credit," he said.
The scheme provides employers $200 a week for any new hire aged under 29 and $100 for workers aged between 30 and 35.
