Australia has a "skills opportunity", not skills shortage, claims Chris Evans

“What we have is a skills opportunity. What a great problem to have.”

This was Senator Chris Evans’ response to current talk of an Australian ‘skills crisis’. Senator Evans made the comment at a Mainstream Maintenance and Reliability Networking Conference on 14 May in Perth.

To preface the comment, Senator Evans quoted the current unemployment figure of 4.9% and mentioned the budget surplus and recent interest rate cut. “Most nations in the world dream of having those sorts of economic conditions,” he said. Our economic situation does not constitute a crisis, he said, but rather a challenge and an opportunity.

“Things are going so well that we’ve got more jobs than labour,” he said. Recent Skills Australia research shows that jobs for highly skilled Australians are growing at 2.5 times the rate of other jobs, Senator Evans said, and the demand for highly skilled workers is only going to continue.

Investment in building a skilled workforce is vital, Senator Evans said, but training must be targeted at the needs of industry and the economy and must lead to job opportunities, rather than “training for the sake of training”.

While he said he supports skilled migrants, Senator Evans said that the skills shortage is an opportunity to “harness the capabilities of our youth” and overcome high unemployment levels in regional and remote Australia.

Touching on the increased allowance of workers on 457 visas, Senator Evans said, “I have no problem supporting overseas workers to fill your immediate skills needs, but I want to know who you’re training to do that work in five years’ time.”

Concluding, Senator Evans urged those present to “consider the possibility of partnering with the Government to deliver the training needs specific to your organisation through the National Workforce Development Fund and Government programs like the National Apprenticeships Program.”