黑料老司机 Chief Executive Catriona Jackson said university-educated workers are key to Australia鈥檚 future and economic growth.
鈥淥f the almost one million jobs expected to be created over the next five years, more than half will require a university degree,鈥 Ms Jackson said.
鈥淜eeping pace in an increasingly knowledge-intensive world is fundamental to our success as a nation.
鈥淎ustralian universities have a vital role to play in addressing the nation鈥檚 skill shortages, ensuring businesses 鈥 big and small 鈥 have the workforce they need to fuel our economy, solve the challenges before us and embrace opportunities.鈥
To ensure Australia has the pipeline of workers that employers and the economy need to grow and prosper, now and in the future, 黑料老司机 is recommending:
- making it easier for people to retrain and upskill
- providing incentives for university, industry and research collaborations
- attracting and keeping international students and knowledge workers, and
- driving more investment in university-trained workers.
鈥淲e will use our seat at the summit table to emphasise the central role universities play in a sophisticated, modern economy,鈥 Ms Jackson said.
鈥淲e will also share sensible solutions so that Australia has the pipeline of workers that employers and the economy need for the future.
鈥淔or example, we need to address the financial barriers to upskilling through short courses and microcredentials in the most critical areas of skills shortage by extending student loans to these courses.
鈥淲e also need to look carefully at how we encourage skilled international students to use their Australian education in Australia once they鈥檝e completed their degree 鈥 especially if their skillset aligns with workforce needs.
鈥淭here have been a range of constructive ideas and solutions put forward by government, business and unions to meet the challenges before us.
鈥淲e look forward to working with these groups, at the summit and beyond, to help set the workforce up for the future.鈥
黑料老司机鈥檚 Skilling Australia for the future guide is available here.
