We’re ground zero of workforce shortages, Australian universities say

A new report on Australian skill shortages proves that universities must have a central role in national workforce planning, sector representatives say.

The Group of Eight (Go8) said the National Skills Commission’s annual skills priority list showed that workforce shortages were now most pronounced in the professional rather than the technical classes.

Chief executive Vicki Thomson said many of these gaps had only become apparent in the past two years, thanks to coronavirus and border closures. The updated list was the “smoking gun” that showed universities must be “part of the forward agenda” of new workforce planning agency Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), she added. 

“Doctors are in as short supply as care workers. Engineers are in as short supply as crane operators. JSA is a worthy vehicle with which to identify what needs to be done and how to alleviate this issue – one which is building to catastrophic in some sectors,” Ms Thomson said. 

The commission’s analysis found that 286 or 31 per cent of the 900-plus recognised occupations were struggling to find workers this year, up from 19 per cent in 2021. Professionals had leapfrogged technicians and tradespeople as hardest to find, with the proportion of professions in shortage more than doubling from 19 to 39 per cent.

One hundred and twenty-seven professional occupations were now in drought, compared with 95 trade and technical occupations. Shortages were most evident in the health professions – particularly among general practitioners and degree-qualified nurses – with schoolteachers also in short supply.

Ms Thomson said Australia must be a “more sovereign nation” able to educate enough doctors, engineers and lawyers to meet its needs.

“We need more of these workers to continue driving our success and prosperity,” said Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson. “It is essential we have the right policy settings to support the role universities play in ensuring Australia can respond to current and future workforce challenges.”

Universities have largely been sidelined from policy discussions about workforce shortages in general and JSA in particular, with skills gaps regarded as primarily a vocational education issue.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com