Workforce insights has been developed to inform government skills planning and to support employers and individuals to make informed workforce and skill development decisions. These reports bring together advice from South Australia's Industry Skills Councils (ISCs) and their networks, labour market and training data and industry research to explore the latest trends in skills and workforce development. The reports were developed prior to, and in the early stages of, the global outbreak of [Coronavirus Disease 2019] Coronavirus (COVID-19), and it is evident that significant disruption has sinc... Show more
Workforce insights has been developed to inform government skills planning and to support employers and individuals to make informed workforce and skill development decisions. These reports bring together advice from South Australia's Industry Skills Councils (ISCs) and their networks, labour market and training data and industry research to explore the latest trends in skills and workforce development. The reports were developed prior to, and in the early stages of, the global outbreak of [Coronavirus Disease 2019] Coronavirus (COVID-19), and it is evident that significant disruption has since occurred - impacting both industry and the demand for a skilled workforce, as well as the ability of employers to commence and retain apprentices and trainees. The need for further consideration of the impacts relevant to each industry is noted, and work in this regard has commenced.
The construction industry comprises several sub-sectors including building, civil engineering and construction services such as plumbing, electrical and air-conditioning. The main sub-sectors of the mining industry in South Australia include oil and gas, metal ore and mineral mining, exploration and mining support services. The energy sector includes electricity, gas and water supply. All combined, the construction, mining and energy sectors employ around 87,600 people in South Australia.
The key findings in this report are: New technologies, such as renewable energy, are affecting the construction, mining and energy sectors and their workforce, generally by changing how work is done; Management and leadership skills will be of increasing demand in the future; Digitisation is impacting large sections of the workforce; Robotics is becoming increasingly prevalent in the construction sector. It is valued for its potential to increase capacity and can prevent workers having to undertake repetitive, physically intensive tasks, allowing them to prolong their working life; Micro-credentialing could help the sector respond to changing skill needs, enabling workers to keep their skills and knowledge relevant by learning to apply new technologies, or to move into other occupations; The construction and energy sector's ageing workforce will increasingly place pressure on the industry to attract new workers and transition older workers into supervisory, managerial, mentoring or training roles that are less labour-intensive.
Edited excerpts from publication.
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