Skill Shortages

Skill Shortages

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2020 saw the largest unemployment rates in Australia since 1998. Areas where work was once abundant, drastically reduced or ceased to exist completely in some areas. Australians who had worked in the same job for 20 years suddenly found themselves unemployed and without the skills required to transition to other job roles.

That is where talk about skill shortages comes in! A surge in demand for skilled people in industries and jobs that emerge as a result of external forces suddenly becomes a problem.

There are a number of reasons why skill shortages might occur.

These include:

• people moving out of regional areas
• not enough training places for certain skilled occupations
• changes in technology
• a large increase in construction work in a region
• and lately, pandemics!

Skill shortages are not all doom and gloom. They actually represent a really great opportunity for jobseekers or even those who are interested in a career change.

It is likely as a result of the skill shortage that there will be less competition for particular roles and therefore a higher chance of securing gainful employment.

The government will generally also respond to skill shortages by offering funded training places for those who wish to re-skill or up-skill into these areas. This means that the cost of training is sometimes greatly reduced!

Finally, you might also find that wages or conditions may be better if employers need to attract the right people to a particular occupation.

According to the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, QLD has skills shortages in the following broad areas as at time of writing:

• Construction Trades
• Health Professions
• Nurses
• School Teachers

You can take a look at the individual job roles that are in demand on their website here.

Regardless of what profession you are currently in or would like to get into, ongoing professional development is important. This was realised by a large number of workers during the COVID19 pandemic. Some also realised that while they had the skills, they might not have the transferable qualifications they needed to transfer to different jobs.

You can explore options for recognition of prior learning with us by completing our Free Skills Assessment.

Asset College, working with Employer Partners has also identified skills shortages in the security industry. Through our networks, employers in the security industry have identified to us that they need more people with the right skills to fill roles.

If the security industry is something that interests you, register for a free information session at one of our offices. The industry is looking for diverse groups of people and women or mature-aged workers are encouraged to apply.

So, what areas of employment are you going to explore to help reduce the skills shortages in Australia?

Give us a call on 1300 731 602 or email study@asset.edu.au to discuss training opportunities with Asset College!