Skills shortages: challenges and opportunities
Australia is experiencing a skills shortage that is restricting its capacity to undertake key infrastructure projects, fill industry sector skill gaps and grow its economy. There is a pressing need to address these shortfalls.
Challenges and opportunities
The recent and ongoing effects of COVID-19 on the Australian economy have demonstrated its reliance on international supply chains and highlighted the risks associated with the decades-old practice of offshoring its manufacturing sector. This coupled with the loss of key workforce sector expertise has created a sovereign risk for Australia and its industries. However, with recent advances in fields such as; digital technology; artificial intelligence (AI); sensors; communications; and the internet of things (IoT); Australian businesses have significant opportunities to upskill staff and upgrade facilities to become more productive, enabling them to better compete with their international peers. By embracing new technology and the paradigms of Industry 4.0, Australian industry has a unique opportunity to meet the needs of future generations by continuing to grow the local economy and securing future employment for the next generation of Australians.
To achieve these goals, one of the key enablers is to build sustainable workforces. Some of the key challenges to achieving this are;
The current skills shortage is characterised by a) an ageing workforce and the need to mitigate current retirement trends to ensure current knowledge and skills are passed on to the next generation; and b) the need to attract the 18-30 demographic to fill key skill gaps and to ensure industries and government work to create policy and programs to inform and attract this cohort;
ensuring the higher education (HE) and vocational education and training (VET) systems meet industry workforce needs through the relevancy of its courses and the inclusion of flexible learning initiatives such as micro-accreditation and short courses;
encouraging greater female participation and greater cultural diversity in all sectors;
addressing skills shortages in traditional trades and disciplines (ie diesel mechanics, welding etc);
ensuring that emerging workforce requirements in digitalisation, automation, industry 4.0, robotics, AI, and the internet of things (IoT) are adequately addressed;
realising that all sectors are competing for similar skills and Australian industry needs to better invest in training, because old practices such as poaching staff, are no longer viable;
ensuring low socio-economic and disadvantaged groups are supported to participate in skills and training initiatives;
addressing the dearth of training for casual and short-term staff and looking at means to ensure they have access to on-going training and career development; and
improving collaboration between industry, the VET sector and higher education, resulting in increased innovation, knowledge and flexible pathways for employee career development and ongoing training.
Potential opportunities and solutions to the workforce challenges include;
implementing policies and incentives for industry to increase the technical capabilities of its workforce and workplace through VET and higher education;
providing incentives to suitably qualified staff (and recent retirees) in all sectors to participate in providing training to the next generation of employees;
promoting gender equity and cultural diversity in the workplace enabling current non-participants to enter the workforce;
applying the latest digitalisation, automation and innovation, to create long term sustainable high-tech industries supported by a highly-skilled workforce;
ensuring employees have access to competency-based training;
collaboration between government, employers and education & training institutions to promote high-priority professions where industry need is greatest;
providing incentives to impending retirees to stay within the workforce and to participate in training and mentoring of the next generation of employees; and
the short-term solution of attracting skilled migrants to fill key skill gaps.
Sustainable Education and Training
The concept of building sustainable workforces requires sustainable education and training. In 2020 the Rail Manufacturing CRC commissioned Victoria University to study the rail sector in Victoria. Titled ‘Reimagining the workforce: training for a future rollingstock workforce’ (ref 1) the study provided an overview of the education & training sector in the rail sector and identified both challenges and opportunities.
Training Challenges
The training challenges identified are likely to be the same as other sectors, and are as follows;
industry identified a need for more diverse skills associated with apprentices and identified a need for additional modules or additional short courses to be offered to this cohort;
ongoing learning will be a requirement for staff to enable them to keep pace with ongoing technology changes in the sector and noting that not all of these needs required credentialled courses;
in terms of staff training and education, small to medium enterprises (SMEs) are likely to be resource and capital constrained;
low student completion rates in many VET courses;
there could be significant benefits derived through closer collaboration between industry, VET and Universities to develop and review education & training courses while also limiting fragmentation; and
training should address both metropolitan and regional needs.
To address the abovementioned challenges, several training strategies become evident;
addressing jurisdictional differences and fragmentation within the VET sector to ensure courses are consistent and taught to the same standard; and
adopting a location or sector model of collaboration between industry, government, training and education providers, and NFPs that has been identified in many nations as world’s best practice (ref 2) enabling tailored approaches to be developed for specific locations or industry sectors including formal and informal training and education, short courses and micro-credentials.
Training opportunities
Finally, in responding to training challenges, there are a number of potential solutions that can be employed and these include;
ensuring VET and Higher education programs support industry needs and are reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure they are keeping up with advancements in technology and also looking at VET as a means to implement the latest developments in innovation from skilled VET trained staff;
assisting education and training organisations to be flexible in the provision of micro-credentialed and ca ability-focused (non accredited) courses to meet industry requirements;
that low completion rates in some VET courses are better understood and addressed; and
there is a need to better understand the training and education needs of SME’s and to provide them with support to build capacity and workplace skills.
Conclusions
Some key conclusions from the above discussion include;
the adoption of location-based or sector-based collaboration between industry, government, education & training organisations, and NFPs (including peak bodies) which is widely identified as best practice, enabling focused methods to be developed that are specific to a location, its industries, supply chains, education and training providers, and its workforces, and which create economies of scale and centres of expertise;
a collaborative model involving government, industry, education & training organisations, unions, and the Not-for-Profit (NFP) sector (including peak bodies) should develop agreed approaches to tackle key skills shortages, develop strategies to attract and retain staff, to innovate, and provide an environment that will afford opportunities for growth, investment, and a sustainable supply chain;
governments could look at ways to provide further assistance to SMEs to allow them to invest in workforce development and training initiatives (noting recent initiatives such as free TAFE etc may assist greatly but completion rates need to be addressed); and
governments could look at ways to further encourage and support training and education through procurement terms and conditions and via supply chain strengthening programs including local content mandates.
References
1) ‘Reimagining the workforce: training for a future rolling stock workforce’, Young, C. et. al., Rail Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre
2) See for example ‘Analysis of national initiatives on digitising European industry’, Larosse, J., October 2017 or see ‘Strategy for American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing: A report by the subcommittee on advanced manufacturing committee on technology of the National Science and Technology Council’, October 2018 or see or ‘Skills and Innovation Strategies to Strengthen U.S. Manufacturing Lessons from Germany, Global cities initiative, a joint project of Brookings and JPMorgan Chase’, 2015