Transcript AJ Calderon
Skill shortages and future skill requirements for the labour force Angel Calderon and Lucy Stockdale VISTA Conference, May 2008 Project Overview Research focussed on the skill shortages and future skill requirements of the labour force in Victoria over the short to medium term in the following industries: –Manufacturing –Transport, Distribution and Logistics –Finance Services –Retail. Research questions • What is meant by the term ‘skill shortages’? • What does skill shortages mean to each of the targeted industries? • What are areas of commonality between the industries in terms of skills needs? • What are the skill requirements of the labour force over the short to medium term? Research Methodology • Action based research. • Qualitative in scope and nature. • Use current debate to inform process of gathering data - qualitatively. • Consult people in industry and experts in the field. • Consolidate findings and validate with industry. Research Method Flowchart Literature Review Formulation of key themes/elements Development of Work Evolution Framework Skill Matrix determined Industry Consultations Skill Matrix data gathering Industry validation of Skill Matrix data Targeted industry follow up Report Issues from literature review • Different definitions/interpretations of term ‘skill’. • Skill is often confused with qualifications, occupations and competencies. • Talk of shift in the ‘nature of work’. • Occupational emphasis on highly skilled labour. • A prevalence of the academic and interest groups view. Issues from literature review • Reconciling the quantum and qualitative dimensions of the issues. • Question to what extent – Skill shortage is a skill deficiency or recruitment difficulty – Skill shortage is more a reflection of an industry experiencing a skills gap. • Expanding the size of the labour market. • Enhancing the broad skill base and competencies of the labour force. Skill dimensions adopted in research • Skill shortages due to insufficient workers being trained • Skills shortages as a result of people choosing to work in occupations other than that for which they have been trained • Skills gaps – the difference between the skill level of existing workers and skill level required by industry • Future skill requirements Key elements/themes The following elements were assessed as critical in the analysis of skill shortages and future skill requirements: • Drivers of change in society and individual. • Individual work cycle patterns. • Cohort trends. • Regional issues. • Contemporary challenges (technology , mobility, etc). • Career structures / trends. Drivers of change Society • • • • Demographics Globalisation Changes in society Public policy, national reform and regulation • Technology • Environmental issues • Changing nature of work in itself Individual • • • • • • • Industrial Geography Time Function Cohort Evolution of work Evolution of skills Framework: Individual Work Evolution Casual Teens / early careers Middle years Experienced Permanent On going X X–Y+Z X-Y Multi mode Cohort Geography Casual Location Early career Time Function Skill sets Mobility Progression Roles Politics Skilling, Reskilling and Upskilling Sustainability Middle years Experienced Careers Drivers of change in society Individual: Motives / Expectations Cognitive Characteristics / attributes (eg age) Background: Culture Educational Socio-economic Framework: Development, testing and validation • Conceptually the model encompass all aspects of an individual work life. • Avoided a simplistic model that would create a sense of time or restriction in its application. • Considered work evolution from an individual perspective. Framework: Data gathering / validation - Steps Framework development August Framework testing and refinement Framework conversion into matrix Matrix development and testing Matrix application – unpopulated four dimensions Matrix application – populated four dimensions Matrix validation, verification Key findings – List of skills Data gathering and validation involved more than 100 people across TAFE institutes, industry and other experts. November Literature: Skill shortage typology • Level 1 shortage: Few people have the skills and who are not already using them, and there is long training time to develop the skills. • Level 2 shortage: Few people have the skills and who are not already using them, but there is a short training time to develop the skills. • Skills mismatch: Sufficient people with skills and who are not already using them, but unwilling to apply for vacancies under current conditions. • Quality gap: Sufficient people with skills, not using them, who are willing to apply for vacancies, but lack some qualities considered important. Skills Matrix • Skills shortages: insufficient workers being trained Cohort Geography / Environment • Skill shortages: people choosing to work in other occupations Finance Manufacturing •Current skills gaps in the labour force • Future skills requirements of the labour force Occupational level Transport, distribution and logistics Data gathering and validation process: Elements and dimensions considered by industry Retail Skills Matrix Proforma - applied to each industry and skill dimension - Categories/Dimensions Early Career Cohort Established Mature Metropolitan Geography Regional Managers/Professionals Technicians, trades & related Occupational/Functional Level Intermediate Elementary & others Industry skills Key observations – Identification of skill gaps and needs is a complex, ambiguous and challenging process. – Identifying emerging and future skill requirements is difficult given the rapid changes in industry activity Industry consultation key findings - Employability skills Ability to adapt to change Capacity to think / to learn Communication skills Cohort Customer handling / relations Finance Employability competency Geography / Environment Foreign language skills Generic skills Global awareness Manufacturing Retail IT skills Leadership skills Numeracy skills Occupational level Transport, distribution and logistics Literacy skills Management skills Mechanical awareness Relationships Team working Technical and practical skills Problem solving Sustainability Mapping of employability skills: Generic skill sets against skills required for employability (Metro Study Area) Metro Study Area Skills demand (Level) Broad category Skills Communication skills (all levels) Communication Foreign language skills (I, H) skills Customer handling / relations (all levels) Team work Team working (all levels) Relationship management ( I,H) Employability competency (L) Problem solving ( all levels) Mechanical awareness ( L, I) Problem-solving Technical and practical skills (L, I) Numeracy skills (L) Literacy skills (L) Ability to Ability to innovate (I,H) innovate Ability to adapt to change (all levels) Strategic thinking / business planning(I,H) Planning and Leadership skills (I,H) organisation Management skills Project management(I,H) Self management Learning skills Technology Global awareness Generic skills Capacity to think / to learn Problem solving (all levels) IT skills (all levels) Technical and practical skills (all levels) Mechanical awareness (all levels) Global awareness (I,H) Sustainability (all levels) Ability to run /manage a small / medium enterprise SME's ( I, H) Levels : L- low; I -Interm ediate; H High. • Communication skills that contribute to productive and harmonious relations between employees and customers • Team work skills that contribute to productive working relationships and outcomes • Problem-solving skills that contribute to productive (enterprise) outcomes • Initiative and enterprise skills that contribute to innovative outcomes • Planning and organisation skills that contribute to long-term and short-term strategic planning • Self-management skills that contribute to employee satisfaction and growth • Learning skills that contribute to ongoing improvement and expansion in employee and company operations and outcomes • Technology skills that contribute to the effective execution of tasks. Research key findings (common to all industries) 1 • Importance of having a set of well developed key generic skills across all sectors. • Ability to further tune skill sets and acquire new skill as individuals progress throughout their working careers. • Emphasis on portability of skills within an industry and across industries. • Difficulty in identifying emerging skills: progressing from uniqueness, differentiation to specialisation. Research key findings (common to all industries) • Implicit agreement that employability skills of the future are drawn from the generic skill list, with variations based on specialisation, differentiation and recognition of being part of a local yet globalised labour market. • Notably, two additional elements were consistently drawn to our attention: – Global awareness, and – Sustainability. Whether these are skills (or enablers, or drivers of change), these two elements are influential in the development of individual’s skills. Research key findings • Growing demand for the on-going addition and renewal of skill sets by individuals as they move through their working careers, in order to remain competitive and current in the labour market. • Individuals need to develop the agility to adapt rapidly to change and embrace the use of new technologies • Emphasis on the portability of skills within industries and across industries Research key findings • Importance of having a set of well developed key generic skills across all sectors. • Agreement that employability skills of the future are drawn from the generic skill list, with variations based on sector specialisation. Research Key Findings • Important to recognise extent to which the following influence skill needs: – Differences in industrial structures within industries (that is, industries are not uniform) – Geographical variance in employment and industry activity, e.g. • Differences in skill requirements in urban and regional conglomerates • Composition of ‘local’ communities. Handouts 1. Summary results - dimension X industry 2. Mapping of employability skills from industry consultation against generic skill sets What does this mean for VET? Questions for discussion • How are these skills sets currently being covered across the system? • How could this be improved? • Within the training package context, how can these skill sets be developed and enhanced? • How can you report against these skill sets? Contacts • Angel Calderon Policy and Planning RMIT University [email protected]. • Lucy Stockdale Learning, Research and Design Kangan Batman TAFE [email protected].