New initiatives to address skills and labour shortages

The recent Australian Jobs and Skills Summit has brought together industry, unions and other stakeholders to develop initiatives to help build a bigger, better trained and more productive workforce. As the food and beverage manufacturing industry has not been immune from the labour shortages across Australia, this has been welcomed by the sector.

As a result of the summit, the Albanese government has agreed to 36 immediate initiatives including the following:

1. An additional $1 billion in joint federal–state funding for fee-free TAFE in 2023 and accelerated delivery of 465,000 fee-free TAFE places.
2. A one-off income credit so that Age Pensioners who want to work can earn an additional $4000 over this financial year without losing any of their pension.
3. An increase in the permanent Migration Program ceiling to 195,000 in 2022–23 to help ease widespread, critical workforce shortages.
4. Extending visas and relaxing work restrictions on international students to strengthen the pipeline of skilled labour, and providing additional funding to resolve the visa backlog.
5. Improving access to jobs and training pathways for women, First Nations people, regional Australians and culturally and linguistically diverse people, including equity targets for training places, 1000 digital apprenticeships in the Australian Public Service and other measures to reduce barriers to employment.
6. Modernising Australia’s workplace relations laws, including to make bargaining accessible for all workers and businesses.
7. Amending the Fair Work Act to strengthen access to flexible working arrangements, make unpaid parental leave more flexible and strengthen protection for workers against discrimination and harassment.

In further summit outcomes, the government, states and territories have a list of areas for further work, including to:

• examine ways to build scale in local manufacturing;
• continue to work with stakeholders to expedite the development of new remote employment service models;
• consider possible improvements to Modern Awards and the National Employment Standards;
• examine the potential for industry sponsorship of skilled migrants;
• explore options to improve the apprenticeship support system and drive-up completions.
   

Mars Wrigley Australia is a local manufacturer that employs more than 700 people across three sites in Melbourne, Ballarat and Asquith. According to Andrew Leakey, General Manager, Mars Wrigley Australia, his company (like many others) has been feeling the impact of broader labour shortages, particularly within the manufacturing and technical sector.

“The discussions at this year’s Jobs and Skills Summit are a step in the right direction to addressing skills shortages, boosting productivity and creating more opportunities in more corners of Australia. We know these challenges require a collective effort from government, industry and other parties involved, and need to be addressed with greater urgency.

Andrew Leakey, General Manager, Mars Wrigley Australia

“In the modern manufacturing environment we see strong demand for technical roles across engineering and R&D at our regional factories, and we believe addressing labour shortages in these key areas will create more employment opportunities and boost economic participation.

“We also believe it is critical to invest in people and technology to increase productivity in Australia’s key sectors, including manufacturing, where innovation in technology can drive productivity growth and create demand for workers with high levels of digital and data literacy. Ensuring both businesses and employees are equipped to tackle these new opportunities is imperative as Australia seeks to boost productivity and participation.”

Many other ideas and suggestions raised at the summit will be explored further over the next 12 months as part of the Employment White Paper. The government will begin accepting submissions for this white paper in late September.

Further information about the summit outcomes is available for here.

Image credit: iStock.com/AleksandarGeorgiev