Increasing education levels are contributing to improved productivity.
This conference paper was presented to the Third International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education and Training, 13–16 May 2012, in Shanghai. It argues that there are two key factors behind Australia's good record of employment for young people: high levels of post-school education with the consequence that there is not a large cohort of people in their mid-to-late teens flooding on to the labour market; and a flexible education system which gives individuals multiple choices.
Looking at apprentice and trainee data and employment data back to 1995, we find that declines in apprentice commencements lead declines in total trades employment by four quarters, whereas declines in trainee commencements appear to lag declines in employment in non-trade occupations. Based on this historical relationship, the reduction in apprentice and trainee numbers suggested a much larger decline in employment than eventuated. The low proportion of redundant apprentices who were able to resume training is concerning. However, because apprentice and trainee commencements rebounded so quickly, we anticipate only a minor interruption to the supply of tradespeople.
This paper was presented at the joint Skills Australia and Industry Skills Councils 2011 conference, , at the Crown Conference Centre, Melbourne. It addresses the challenge of measurement in workforce development planning, and discusses the role of the various players in labour markets and the information they need to make optimal decisions.
This paper was prepared for the Australian Government's National Resources Sector Employment Taskforce, which was created to investigate the extent to which skill shortages might impact on the development of the resources sector. It applies historical apprenticeship commencement rates to population projections to provide an estimate of the number of tradespeople likely to be working in the resources sector between 2010 20 at a detailed level and by region.
This paper was presented at the 2009 Economic and Social Outlook Conference, 5-6 November at the University of Melbourne. It takes a sceptical view of the push for 'green skills', arguing that skills required in the labour market evolve relatively slowly, and that the way business operates is driven by changing costs, new technologies and new regulations, with sustainability being only one of many factors.
The purpose of this paper is to describe what we know about apprenticeships and traineeships, with a view to assessing the likely impact of the current economic downturn on them.
This paper considers three aspects of vocational education and training's (VET) contribution to the labour market: the relationship between their training and the occupations VET graduates work in; the extent to which the qualified proportion of the workforce has increased; and the link between VET and skills acquisition. Finally, some thoughts are aired on the implications of the economic slowdown for vocational education and training.
This paper was presented to a meeting of the Wellington Exchange, an international group of higher education officials, in December 2008.
Recent trends in the provision of vocational education and training (VET) diplomas and advanced diplomas are outlined in this paper. The paper also looks at how people with diplomas and advanced diplomas are faring in the labour market. The picture is rather mixed, suggesting that those with diplomas and advanced diplomas fare, on average, better than those with other VET qualifications or no post-school qualifications.
School-based apprentices and trainees have recently been given more prominence as an element of vocational education and training in school, partly as a response to skill shortages in a wide range of areas. The purpose of this paper is to provide data on school-based apprentices and trainees to enable a judgement to be made about how this policy push is unfolding. The number of school-based apprentices and trainees is small but growing rapidly, numbers are concentrated in retail and hospitality training packages. Completion rates are lowest in the trades.
This paper explores the issue of how vocational education and training (VET) is actually used in the labour market, in particular the match between what people study and the jobs they get. This match is pretty poor in most occupational groups with the exception of the trades. However, the paper concludes that the mismatch reflects the generic nature of VET rather than wastage. This view is reached because a relatively high percentage of graduates report their training is relevant even though they do not end up in their intended occupation.
Trade apprenticeships in Australia from 1967 to 2006 are modelled in this paper. These models are used to understand how apprentice numbers in the trades respond to changes in labour market conditions. The models also allow commentary on the impact of recent government policy initiatives on trade apprentices. The paper finds that some trade apprenticeships are particularly sensitive to labour market conditions; that historical relationships between apprenticeship numbers and the labour market in the majority of occupations have broken down in the last ten years; and that government initiatives have been unable to counteract completely this trend.
It is argued that workforce planning should be built on an understanding of how the labour market works and the links between it and education and training. Workforce planning is particularly difficult for the resources and infrastructure industry because the demand for resources is difficult to forecast and the industry is made up of relatively small employers and draws workers from a wide range of occupations.
The ageing society has been attracting the attention of policy-makers in Australia and in many other countries. This paper considers the labour market for the traditional trades in Australia over the next 40 years and investigates whether the ageing society will pose a workforce problem. The broad conclusion is that the ageing society will significantly impact on the size of the potential trades workforce, but that this is unlikely to result in shortages. Rather, any shortage is more likely to occur if the trades lose their attractiveness relative to other occupations. Moreover, the age distribution of the trades workforce will remain largely unaltered.
One of the most striking features of the modern world is its changing demographic profile. In almost any policy arena, the issue of demographic change (or ageing) sits alongside globalisation, climate change and the knowledge revolution as areas which are transforming societies, including the ways in which we organise and go about our work activities. This significant and worldwide phenomenon motivated an international meeting of a number of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) research agencies, hosted by NCVER in October 2006. This publication is the result of this meeting and contains the presented papers and comments by discussants. What emerges from the papers is a picture of a worldwide trend that touches many aspects of TVET and the labour market, but one which needs to take into account the very different economies and societies of the world.
Presented to the Second Sino-Australia Vocational Education and Training Conference at Chongqing on 3-5 August, 2005, this paper looks at linkages between the Australian vocational education and training system and the labour market--the formal legal and administrative structures, general skills development, and the dynamics of the labour market.
Discussion about Australia's ageing population has focused on the importance of increasing labour force participation rates of older people. This paper examines the influence of education and training on the participation of older people in the labour market, and the pay-off of undertaking education and training as an older-person compared to earlier in life. On the whole, the results indicate the more qualifications the better, and education, lifelong learning and training are beneficial to maintaining and increasing employment rates. Qualifications acquired later in life have as good, and in some cases, better, pay-off to employment-to-population rates for older age groups, suggesting education is an effective strategy for older people seeking employment. The authors also suggest that increasing education levels will partially offset the impact of ageing on labour force participation.