This project aims to identify potential underutilised pools of labour, and ways in which VET initiatives, job networks, and labour market intermediaries can help overcome current and deepening labour supply constraints on economic growth. It also aims to identify how VET initiatives can contribute to improving approaches to workforce development and enterprise performance to ensure industries have the capacity to meet current challenges, and the ability to adapt in the future. The research will include in-depth studies of two sectors-childcare and meat processing-and it is anticipated that broader lessons will be learnt through these two sectors.
The research aims to understand the complex relationships between VET, employers and individuals and their effects on workforce participation and firm performance. The guiding questions are:
(a) Under what conditions does VET contribute to
(i) lifting workforce participation?
(ii) improving firm performance through workforce development?
(b) How, if at all, does employer policy and practice contribute to (i) and (ii)?
(c) How can VET policy and practice be changed to assist in maximising workforce participation and firm performance?
Questions specific to lifting workforce participation to be explored are:
* What are the experiences of individuals who have transitioned into the workforce?
* How well do training packages assist people to move into the labour force?
* What is the role of labour market intermediaries in assisting with this move?
* Do generic employability skills assist in making the transition into the workforce?
* How could Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) be used as an encouragement to move workers into work, particularly those in groups which are under-utilised in the labour market?
* How does RPL assist in retaining skilled workers without qualifications?
* What improvements can be achieved within current funding arrangements and constraints?
Questions specific to the role of VET in improving workforce and enterprise development to be explored are:
* How do employer responses to the changing industrial, social and policy environment shape labour demand?
* How, if at all, do these responses contribute to, or undermine, systems of workforce development?
* What is the link, if any, between the formal and informal systems of workforce development in these sectors?
* How do these systems contribute to enhancing industry wide productive capacity?
* How can approaches to workforce development and VET be better integrated with wider industry development and the evolution of business and work in these industries?
* How, if at all, can formal VET arrangements be better structured and/or resourced to help develop individuals with the appropriate cognitive, behavioural and technical capabilities?
This is a three-year research program involving a combination of approaches:
* A statistical mapping exercise that will analyse labour stocks and flows of under-employed and un-employed persons and will provide an understanding of the common elements of underutilisation.
* Key informant interviews that will provide rich lines of inquiry from a range of viewpoints. They will also help identify potential 'best practice' sites and associated organisations involved in successfully training, recruiting and retaining employees from the underutilised groups identified in the statistical mapping exercise.
* Original case studies and life histories. In-depth interviews with employees and managers from a range of occupational groups with a number of organisations will be conducted. For both industries they will include where applicable the CEO, HR Manager, Centre Managers and both qualified and unqualified workers. This approach allows the researchers to address the issues as seen from a range of positions within each site. This method will allow the researchers to 'unpack' what lies behind the apparent problems confronting each group.
* Consolidation of findings and consideration of implications for other industry sectors. This stage will integrate the findings of the previous two years to generate new insights. Additional research may include more statistical analysis, conduct of small case studies in other industries to generalise/extend findings, or a closer study of VET structures to ensure more tightly focused recommendations concerning future policy.
The Workplace Research Centre (previously known as ACIRRT) was established in 1989 as an Australian Research Council-funded Key Centre. The Centre is an independent, multi-disciplinary organisation which is now self-funded. Based at the University of Sydney, the Centre is one of Australia?s leading multi-disciplinary labour market and work research and training organisations. It monitors and analyses the changing nature of work and the labour market through a range of research and training programs. Integral to this is an examination of the wider institutional, economic and social structures as they impact on the workplace, organisations and individuals. Over the past 18 years, the Centre has retained a broad labour market perspective. It enjoys a reputation for independent, authoritative, rigorous and innovative research. The WRC is proud of the fact that its clients include employers from the private and public sectors, employer associations, unions and community based organisations.
