Cross-occupational skill transferability: challenges and opportunities in a changing economy

As economies change and industries are restructured, transferable skills are becoming increasingly important in assisting employees to move between occupations. This research identifies growing and declining occupations across Australia, assesses how the vocational education and training system cultivates transferable skills and explores how well workers facing retrenchment understand their transferable skills. It is found that transferable skills perform an invaluable role in an employee's cross-occupational mobility. However, there is more that can be done to improve recognition of...  [+] Show more

As economies change and industries are restructured, transferable skills are becoming increasingly important in assisting employees to move between occupations. This research identifies growing and declining occupations across Australia, assesses how the vocational education and training system cultivates transferable skills and explores how well workers facing retrenchment understand their transferable skills. It is found that transferable skills perform an invaluable role in an employee's cross-occupational mobility. However, there is more that can be done to improve recognition of transferable skills, as well as the way they are developed in the training system and understood in the labour market.

Published abstract.