SKILLS
Employers and governments insist that we are short of skilled workers. But in reality, we have a massive pool of talent, and potential talent, which we consistently overlook.
We need better investment, from both employers and governments, to properly skill local jobseekers. There is more to skilling people than simply offering fee-free TAFE courses or the like.
I did a fee-free TAFE course myself, many years ago, in an effort to - presumably - develop new skills. This was something that Centrelink alerted me to, when I was stuck on the dole after being retrenched. I found the course reasonable, but it did not actually land me a job. I learned that employers were only seeking skills acquired on the job - and not in the classroom. My TAFE course therefore felt like a waste of time.
Making TAFE courses fee-free means little, unless they include proper opportunities to put study-acquired knowledge to use in a real workplace.
How many jobseekers have stories of studying, presumably to develop new skills, only to find themselves still stuck on the dole post-study? This is a sign of a training system failing to do its job.
Too many jobseekers simply cannot get work, no matter how hard they try, because of being told that they lack "experience". They face a depressing catch-22, of needing a job to get experience and yet needing experience to get a job.
Seriously, how do you get experience when nobody will give you a job?
If only more employers were able and willing to properly train poorly-skilled local jobseekers, it would reduce the need to keep importing skilled workers. For sure, small businesses in particular cannot afford the costs associated with training workers. But we need to ensure that everyone has the chance to learn.
Because of inadequate training opportunities, there is a serious mismatch between the skills that employers need and the skills that jobseekers can offer. We need to take responsibility for properly skilling jobseekers to equip them for emerging jobs and industries.
Meanwhile, there are existing skills within society which we are not tapping into.
Many pensioners have much-needed skills, and they are able and willing to work extra hours. But pension rules and other restrictions stop them from working more. These rules need changing. Only a change will free up pensioners to work more, and put their much-needed skills to good use when we need them most.
Also, we have brought in lots of workers from overseas, presumably because of their skills and experience. but they are not actually doing the work for which they were brought here. Often they find it complex and expensive to get skills validated or updated to meet Australian standards. They are therefore stuck doing work like cleaning and food deliveries, below their apparent skill levels. This is wasteful. Worse still, this fuels the endless cycle of importing more workers and failing to use their actual skills.
Boosting productivity in Australia requires a three-pronged approach, but both employers and goverments seem unwilling to take any responsibility. We need to properly train poorly-skilled local jobseekers currently stuck on the unemployment scrapheap, change the pension rules to enable pensioners to work additional hours if they wish, and make it easier and cheaper for skilled foreigners already here to upskill themselves for the work for which they came. We need to properly use untapped skills that we already have.
We need to invest wisely in people already living here, instead of just looking overseas for skilled workers, and we need reduce our reliance on high immigration levels to sustain our economy.