During 2022, the Committee for Adelaide convened a Skills Policy Focus Group to consider one of the top priorities identified by members to address the skills shortage and increase our local talent pipeline.
Led by Milly Vorrasi, Client Engagement Director, Hays, the purpose of this group was to delve deeper into the challenges facing members regarding talent attraction and retention, explore the current policy settings and demand/supply policy levers to address skills shortages, and identify recommendations to improve outcomes for members and more broadly, South Australia.
We heard that many organisations and businesses are still struggling to find the talent to fill gaps in their labour force as our economy continues to recover from the impact of the global pandemic. Many businesses are also planning their future workforce as technology advances and shifts the demand for local skills to fulfil jobs of the future.
A paper has been released identifying the key challenges explored by our Skills Policy Focus Group and provides recommendations, as part of our advocacy role, to improve outcomes for businesses with respect to overcoming skill shortages, and attracting and retaining the talent needed to sustain operations and grow.
The recommendations call on government to:
- Increase funding and promotion of alternative training and employment pathways
- Establish more formal contact points for students across the entire school curriculum to improve engagement with industry
- Offer tax incentives to make salaries more competitive in South Australia to attract and retain graduates and younger people
- Establish a Top 10 globally renown university to attract and retain young people
- Develop a sector-wide SA Graduate and Young People Retention Strategy
- Fund a Migrant Education and Awareness Campaign for businesses and the community to support retention
We will continue to advocate on behalf of members to address this important priority and to improve outcomes for local businesses to thrive, now and into the future, and for the betterment of the State.
Click here to download the paper.
