In an effort to combat Australia’s ‘worst-ever skills shortage’ Engineers Australia has released details for its proposed skills recovery roadmap.
The Strengthening the Engineering Workforce report was published ahead of the Federal Government’s Jobs and Skills Summit in September, and identifies five factors currently influencing the engineering workforce, including:
- School education (primary and secondary)
- Engineering study (vocational and higher education)
- Retention in the engineering workforce
- Skilled migrant engineering workforce participation
The report outlines tangible initiatives that, if implemented, Engineers Australia said will lessen both current and future workforce shortages.
Listing recommended actions to be taken by Government, Industry and Tertiary Education, Strengthening the Engineering Workforce broadly advocates for investment in education and workforce incentives to attract and retain local engineers.
Describing the findings as a ‘call to action’, Engineers Australia Chief Executive Officer, Romilly Madew AO, said solutions would require long term and collaborative commitment.
“We know challenges with skilled migration, lack of supply of local engineering graduates and plummeting rates of students taking up STEM subjects are factors.
“Engineers Australia’s ground-breaking research into Women in Engineering and Barriers to employment for migrant engineers are also telling us that under-utilisation of migrant engineers and lack of understanding around what engineers ‘do’ must also be addressed,” Ms Madew said.
“The long-term solution involves collaborative investment in young people and schools, industry-led development of early career graduates, a greater recognition of the value of women and migrant engineers, and community-wide awareness of the engineering profession.”
Engineers Australia Chief Engineer, Jane MacMaster, stressed that the effective use of all available engineers must be considered a national strategic imperative.
“Our economy and communities are more reliant on the engineering profession than ever before, and we need to ensure we have enough engineers to design solutions for society’s most complex problems,” Ms MacMaster said.
“Without urgent action on the engineering skills shortage, we will see project costs and timelines blow out. And for critical endeavors such as the transition to net zero emissions and circular economies, we don’t have time to spare.”
Feature Image: Engineers Australia CEO, Romilly Madew. Photo: Engineers Australia
While this report touches on some pertinent areas of the issue at hand, it does not acknowledge or address the cost of doing such a degree.
Whether the applicant/student is local or from abroad the cost of embarking on such a degree is prohibitive and I believe drives prospects to other career options that have a shorter and less costly path.
Having completed my Electrical Engineering degree in 1989 the fees at the time were negligible and if they had not been I might not have chosen a path in engineering.
In recent times Dan Andrews has announced free education on the healthcare industry for Nursing And Midwifery.
I strongly believe that if you want to have more interest, longevity and student stickiness in engineering this is an area that needs to be seriously investigated.