SHAPING AUSTRALIA’S SKILLS FOR FUTURE GROWTH National Forum on Labour Market Information Vancouver...
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- SHAPING AUSTRALIAS SKILLS FOR FUTURE GROWTH National Forum on
Labour Market Information Vancouver Denis Hart Employment Analysis
and Evaluation Group, DEWR Canberra, Australia
- Slide 2
- Overview of presentation Australian labour market - trends and
outlook Active Participation Model for employment services Industry
drivers and shapers of future jobs and skills Industry strategies
for employment services Identifying and addressing skill shortages
Knowledge industries ICT skills and shortages Guiding job seekers
and career explorers into jobs with good prospects shaping careers
and lifelong up-skilling Policy challenges facing Australia and the
role of LMI
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- Australian labour market The Australian labour market has
performed strongly, with employment at a record high of 9.6 million
in March 2004 Full-time employment accounted for 97 per cent of new
jobs over year to March 2004 (growth of 141,000 or 1.5 per cent)
The (trend) unemployment rate fell to 5.7 per cent in March 2004,
the equal lowest level in two decades Forward labour market
indicators suggest employment growth should continue in Australia
through 2004 There are widespread skill shortages, especially for
trades, but little evidence of general upward pressure on wages
Teenage full-time unemployment is low (4.8 per cent of the teenage
population), and there are industry concerns about finding suitable
young workers for apprenticeships
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- Australias unemployment 000
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- The Active Participation Model (APM) and Australias employment
services A more flexible and strategic approach to employment
services, implemented from 1 July 2003 Builds on strategies in
Australians Working Together, such as Training Credits and Training
Accounts More vacancies, and a broader range of vacancies, for job
seekers on Australian JobSearch, with Job Placement organisations
focusing on gathering and lodging vacancies Better matching
Vocational Profiles for job seekers on Australian JobSearch
automatically matched, on a daily basis, against vacancies (using
smart technology) - around 800,000 active Vocational Profiles at
present
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- Active Participation Model (APM) More help for those most in
need: Intensive Support - customised or tailored assistance for
disadvantaged job seekers (intensity of assistance generally
increases with duration of unemployment) Assistance includes
training, work experience and referral to complementary programmes
(eg literacy/numeracy), and access to specialist providers (eg
Indigenous or mature age) Job Seeker Account (in addition to
Training Account for mature and Indigenous job seekers) a pool of
funds to help disadvantaged job seekers secure work (eg training in
work or employability skills, licences, trade tools) Importantly,
APM provides an approach to employment services that can respond to
labour market opportunities
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- Job Placement Organisations Complementary Employment and
Training Programmes Job Network Centrelink Active Participation
Model Job Seeker Disability Employment Services/ Personal Support
Programme 2 working days Job Seeker Account Service Guarantee
National Jobs Database Jobs
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- Where are the future job opportunities? Industry drivers of
future employment growth are clustered around business services,
health and community care, hospitality, retail and education
Challenge for employment services to help the unemployed, those
returning to the workforce, and disadvantaged job seekers (eg
mature age) to access jobs, and address skill needs and shortages,
in these growth areas Involves LMI understanding the changing
nature of jobs, skills needed, barriers to entry and ways of
helping the unemployed be more job ready for these growth areas Way
forward working with industry and government agencies at the
regional level to develop strategies for job seekers, including
special groups
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- Employment growth by industry indexed (1987 to 2004)
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- Share of projected employment growth by industry to 2009-10
(per cent)
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- Key growth industries annual new jobs to 2009-10 (000)
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- Industry strategies for employment services Why? Low
unemployment, skill shortages for many skilled occupations and
growing industry reports of difficulties in recruiting less skilled
occupations Better job prospects for our clients employment
opportunities in growth industries, while helping to meet industry
skill needs Low skill entry level barriers for most jobs, yet the
Job Network share of vacancies filled appears low for some sectors
Recognition of different skill needs of industries, and helping job
seekers to be job ready for these industries Active Participation
Model provided the flexibility needed to develop and implement
targeted strategies
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- LMI and industry strategies Short analytical papers were
prepared for selected industries (eg. retail, health, hospitality
and manufacturing) covering: Number of businesses and employees by
firm size Employment level and annual change (indicator of
cyclicality) Skill level educational profile for industry Main
occupations and age profile for industry New apprentices in
training by age group Information on skill and recruitment issues
and ideas for the way forward for industry strategies Follow-up LMI
has included more detailed industry profiles and research into
specific occupations (eg aged carers)
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- Selected industry initiatives Hospitality (accommodation, cafes
and restaurants) Pre-employment courses, with a focus on indigenous
job seekers Employment Innovation Fund - Tourism Training Australia
Pre-vocational commercial cookery course in regional centre Health
and community care Recruitment and training for work in aged care
facilities Best practice recruitment and training strategy for
South Australia Survey of aged care providers (in Western
Australia), to identify recruitment and training issues
Investigating linkages to assist with training and recruitment of
qualified child care workers
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- Selected industry initiatives Retail Industry body identified
skill shortage, and provides training and work experience for
trainees referred by Job Network member Road transport Ready for
the road pre-vocational training, placement in jobs (training cost
shared with industry through Job Seeker Account) Manufacturing and
regional Meetings between Job Network, industry bodies and training
providers to improve New apprenticeship take-up Developing
strategies for large recruitment by a food processor in Eastern
Victoria, including participation in pre-vocational course
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- Skill shortages in Australia Where are the skill shortages?
Shortages are widespread in the trades: eg automotive, chefs and
cooks, engineering, electrical and (some) construction trades For
professionals, skill shortages are mainly evident for nurses and
health specialists (eg pharmacist, physiotherapist), child care
workers, accountants and civil engineers Why do skill shortages
matter? Skill shortages can impede industry growth and innovation
(and cause upward pressure on wages) and affect the reliability and
quality of services (eg health services) Information on skill
shortages can: Help to understand the nature and causes of skill
shortages, develop industry-led and employment service strategies,
guide education planning and target skilled migration
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- Skill shortage research in Australia Skill shortages exist when
employers are unable to fill or have considerable difficulty
filling vacancies for an occupation. Skill shortage research in
Australia is built around this definition Core of research is
(telephone-based) Survey of Employers Who Have Recently Advertised
(SERA) focus on recent recruitment experience (follow-up of job
advertisements) Employer survey provides (for each state) data on %
of vacancies filled and the number of total/suitable applicants per
vacancy Data on training commencements and completions, migration,
vacancies, employment and industry demand are analysed State
prepares reports, guided by an agreed template, and provides a
skill shortage rating for each occupation Teleconferences are used
to consolidate findings and national and state skill shortage lists
are then prepared
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- Nature and causes of skill shortages Conceptual approach
distinguishes between skill shortages, recruitment difficulties and
skill gaps (existing workers) Shortages are often for specialised
skills within an occupation, and these are identified in the skill
shortage lists Wastage (workers not using qualifications) and non
completion of education and training contribute to shortages
Training levels for some occupations are not adequate to replace
workers leaving the occupation Ageing of the workforce is an
emerging concern about future shortages, and the impact will vary
across occupations For Australia, in 1983 10 per cent of the
population were aged 65 years and over: this rose to 13 per cent in
2004, and is expected to rise to 20 per cent by 2023.
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- Wastage- Chefs/Cooks labour force status - years since
qualification
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- Ageing of the workforce % aged 45 years and over
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- National Industry Skills Initiative (NISI) Initiative grew out
of a desire to target New Apprenticeships more effectively to
address skill shortages faced by industry Industry-led skill
shortage working groups, managed by the Department of Education,
Science and Training Working groups tasked with identifying skill
shortages, and developing action plans to address shortages Our
reports on employment for each industry (eg automotive trades,
retail, engineering) were complemented by training data from
National Centre for Vocational education Research Information gaps
were addressed through targeted research (eg why workers leave
occupations, specialised skills in shortage) Strategies include
improved career information NISI has now been replaced by the
National Skills Shortages Strategy, and a new website:
www.getatrade.gov.au
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- ICT skill shortage research Mix of employer survey and survey
of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) recruitment
companies, since most ICT advertising is through specialist
recruiting firms Skill shortage ratings, for each state, for around
80 specialised ICT skills in Australia, in a six month period,
approximately 3,000 different ICT skills are advertised! Reports
draw from surveys and industry reports on demand and supply trends.
Detailed results are on workplace.gov.au (with a power point
presentation of findings and employment trends) Supported by an ICT
vacancy index (weekly updates), based on advertisements on ICT
online recruitment sites ICT nomenclature project for identifying
ICT occupations, to provide better information on the ICT labour
market
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- Skills for growth To enhance future skills and economic and
employment growth, countries like Australia need to use LMI
effectively to guide workers into good jobs: job seekers, youth in
education, those returning to the workforce and those seeking a
change in career What occupations will experience growth? Which
occupations will provide good job prospects and future careers? A
small number of Professional occupations are among those with the
largest future (numerical) growth ICT Professionals, Accountants
and Registered Nurses The largest generators of new jobs are less
skilled and VET oriented occupations: eg Sales Assistants, Office
Assistants, Waiters and Aged and Disabled Carers Long-term job
growth is evident for Professionals and service- oriented skills,
but little growth for Trades
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- Indexed employment selected occupational groups
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- Strongest growth occupations (% pa to 2009-10)
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- Largest growth occupations (000 to 2009-10)
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- JOB PROSPECTS In assessing job prospects DEWR examines:
Projected employment growth for the next six years (including our
projections adapted from the Monash model) Recent/historical
employment trends (up to ten years) Whether the occupation is
employed in growth industries Unemployment rate for the occupation
Vacancy trends and graduate employment outcomes Whether there are
skill shortages Job turnover - the number of workers leaving the
occupation (job opportunities for new workers) and total vacancies
Expected occupational developments structural change and the impact
of technology, including new products
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- Unemployment rate by highest educational qualification (%)
- Slide 30
- Meeting future skill needs - in the Ageing Age of Knowledge New
industries, built around new technologies and growing demand for
services, will continue to emerge and grow Skill demand will
continue to shift from occupations to highly specialised skills ICT
skills are a forerunner New and evolving technologies (eg ICT,
self-service retail, biotechnology, distance learning,
nanotechnology) will impact on how we live and work and industry
skill needs Lifestyle changes from higher incomes will impact on
working arrangements. Work and life will be more intertwined. The
global influence on our lifestyle will rise, and countries will
compete more strongly for skills. Ageing of the workforce, in
Australia, will impact progressively on the availability of skills,
and on future skill shortages.
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- LMI : challenges and policy links Forward-looking information
on skills can inform the employment and education markets and
achieve a better match between future skill demand/supply and lower
unemployment Vital to shape the discipline mix of higher education
and the future directions for vocational education and training
Employment services: LMI is playing a role in employment
strategies. Better data on skills for jobs and regional skill needs
are needed to achieve effective strategies Welfare reform: need to
assist the transition to jobs in growth industries for those in
receipt of income support Flexible and responsive workplace
relations policies are important to address skill shortages and
ageing of the workforce Fine tuning of skilled migration requires
good information on emerging skill needs, and advice on persistent
skill shortages.