With the Federal election quickly approaching, it is timely that this issue contains a Training & Education feature as this area is increasingly vital for the economic future of the Hunter and Australia.

 

The world is undergoing an information and automation revolution that is completely rewriting the way we live, work, do business and just about everything else.

One of the important tasks we face is to have a Training & Education system that plans for the future and helps people to build the new skills that will be required and train them to have the ability to apply their skills to business areas and jobs that evolve.

 

It makes sobering reading when one sees the various studies that report claims such as up to 70% of young people are training for jobs that either won’t exist or be vastly different in the next 10- 15 years. It is estimated that in 20 years most people will be doing jobs that don’t even currently exist.

 

The process of change is underway and this can already be seen in the labour force. Whilst official unemployment figures are not bad, other studies show a different situation. Findings by Roy Morgan Reasearch, for example, indicate that in May a total of 2,316,000 Australians were unemployed or under-employed or 18.1% of the workforce. An important component of this is no doubt structural, with people trained in areas that are not in demand by business.

So how do we cope with these current and future changes without massive economic and social disruption resulting from huge portions of the population having skill sets not in demand?

A good start is to further increase those studying STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) as these skills will continue to be in demand in an ever increasing technological world. There is some excellent work being done locally by the ME Program and other initiatives.

But I believe one of the major changes required is to not focus as strongly on specific long term occupation-based training & education but try to encourage more people to have a skill set that is more easily transferable to different occupations, including the new evolving occupations. This must of course be done hand-in-hand with encouraging people to consider wider possibilities in the workforce and to be willing to engage in the supplementary training that may be required.

 

And as all employers know, it is not just the technical skill set that is important but also the attitude of employees. Those that have a sound broad-based skill set, that are willing to learn more, have enthusiasm and are true team players will always be valued by the marketplace.

Additionally, the whole concept of business is changing, with a range of models replacing the traditional centralised workplaces, including geographically distributed and more collaborative arrangements. New technology is also enabling a wide range of opportunities for budding entrepreneurs to back their own ideas.

Training & Education must also reflect this changing nature. All in all this is quite a challenge for Governments, educational institutions, training organisations, businesses and the wider community. How we adapt to these changes will have a significant effect on our future economic prosperity.