Australian Workforce Issues
The literature review also highlighted that Australia does not have sufficient workers – both skilled and unskilled- to meet the future demands of industry and links the VET sector as a key driver for developing Australia’s workforce in a global economy.
Chris Richardson, Director of Deloitte Access Economics explained at the 2011 Skills Australia and Industry Skills Councils joint conference in Melbourne that there is a growing gap between the demand for the jobs and the supply of skills in this country at a time when our migration rates are halving, and baby boomers are retiring. He believes that the increase in Australia’s terms of trade is a key contributor driving demand for jobs, skills and qualifications. Put simply he suggests that if we want to position Australia as the best then we need to have the best skills (Australian Workforce Productivity Agency 2011).
Heather Ridout, Chief Executive of the Australian Industry Group and a Skills Australia board member stated in her address that “Our investment in skills and skilling is too low” and emphasised the importance of looking at ways of rejuvenating sectors such as tourism, education and manufacturing, which are all considered major employers in Australia and who are each experiencing extreme competitive pressures. Like many others, Heather sees a link between education, training and productivity (Australian Workforce Productivity Agency 2011).
It is clear that if industry itself sees the value of education and training then understanding the importance of the transfer of training to workforce is a vital part of any learning design.
If you are a VET practitioner and you would like to be involved in this research please contact me via this blog, LinkedIn or Social Media.
The first stage involves participation in professional conversations with educational practitioners at various stages of their e-learning journey using platforms such as Facebook groups and LinkedIn groups. This will involve both facilitating discussions and engaging in existing discussions that explore the use and issues of implementing e-learning into training. Discussions will be carefully monitored manually over a period of approximately six weeks. The information gleaned from these discussions will be used to determine the nature and scope of the questions that will be included in the design of a practitioner’s survey aimed at exploring practitioner perceptions of e-learning, e-learning delivery and its impact on learning and training transfer.
You are welcome to participate in the professional conversations, review the survey question and/or complete the survey. Other opportunities will blogged on this site within the various sections of this research.