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With industry restructuring and closure, many displaced older workers need major supports and interventions to find a new job. The completion of 52 interviews with displaced older workers, and with those supporting them in retraining and employment, identified evidence-based practices across multiple industry sectors that might lead to more successful reskilling, training and job outcomes. Three types of reskilling interventions were identified: large firm and supplier programmes, open access programmes and customised initiatives.

Overall, older workers preferred training that was more experiential, practical, less formal and accelerated. They sought to fill skill gaps that allowed them to be more competitive for jobs especially in local employment. Access to training resources for workers in small-to-medium-sized enterprises was more difficult than for those from larger firms which were supported by well-funded government and industry interventions. To guide future research and practice, a preliminary framework is offered that defines a number of key features of successful interventions. Top-priority actions identified are early engagement to connect older workers to support services; one-on-one planning sessions to ensure the workers' needs drive the assistance provided; age-appropriate, customised and time-effective training; job search and job interview preparation assistance; and activities that facilitate direct contact with potential new employers in local communities.

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This report identifies New Zealand's digital skills challenge and recommends steps for action. The success of the digital technology sector is critical for New Zealand. It is one of the fastest growing parts of the New Zealand economy. Underpinning this growth and economic value are people with digital skills. Globally, demand for people with advanced digital skills is greater than the supply of qualified employees and the gap continues to grow. New Zealand is no different. This research was commissioned by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) with NZTech, to help inform the direction of the skills work stream within the Government's Digital Technology Industry Transformation Plan. For the first time, data has been aggregated across the entire digital skills pipeline, from school to tertiary education, from education to employment, from within the market and from immigration. When NZTech and the Digital Skills Forum undertook research in 2017, 'Digital skills for a digital nation' [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 133.128], a series of recommendations were proposed. However, three years later, we find decreasing participation in digital technology in education and a less diverse workforce.

The research finds that New Zealand is facing a specific digital skills challenge - this research clearly shows an issue of a skills mismatch rather than a skills shortage. An increasing reliance on immigration and low levels of investment in upskilling staff has created slow career progression and high levels of employee turnover as individuals actively seek new opportunities. Better connections between industry and education are required to improve diversity and pathways into digital technology careers. To ensure New Zealand's digital future, work is required at all stages of the digital skills pipeline. The report makes the following recommendations for action: (1) build the digital skills pipeline; (2) support the transition to work; and (3) upskill and reskill.

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Vector Consulting was commissioned by Cisco and Optus to understand how digital is changing TAFE operating models, training experiences and campus design. The study involved desktop research, targeted interviews, an international higher education roundtable and a comprehensive online survey that captured responses from the sector. The report suggests that [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 has amplified some major shifts impacting on TAFEs: the rise of blue tech skills and forecast industry shortages; higher value being placed on digital skills for all roles; changing training consumption models for both industry and learners; more 'digitally demanding' students; efficiency agenda of state governments; and the digitisation of every TAFE function. The research found that more than four out of five TAFE executives believe COVID-19 has created permanent change in the way TAFE campuses are designed and operate. This is higher than the equivalent figure for universities. These major shifts are creating the impetus for transformation of TAFE operating models, training experiences and campus design across five areas: (1) creating institute resilience and adaptability; (2) prioritising safety and security as part of the campus experience; (3) re-designing campuses so they are engaging but efficient to operate; (4) building learning models that are immersive and scalable; and (5) using innovative models to ensure TAFE boundaries are even more porous to industry.

The capacity of TAFEs to adjust to these future changes and sustain innovation and future competitiveness is increasingly dependent on having a clear strategy for operationalising digital innovation. This report puts forward a range of steps that TAFEs will therefore need to take to succeed in the 'new normal': (1) make digital an executive-level priority; (2) get the underlying platform in place: robust, scalable and secure; (3) focus on applications that make TAFE attractive to all students; (4) embrace partnerships with industry; and (5) think strategically about how to fund digital initiatives in a financially constrained environment.

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Nga Pukenga Whai Mahi/employability skills development does not occur in a vacuum. That is the underlying premise and aim of our project, to evaluate key influences on young learners being work-ready, including programmes such as the Licence to Work (L2W), and training and community initiatives that support learners into sustained employment. Employers need to have confidence that employees have the skills to successfully contribute to the economy. Part of this is supporting our young people in having the capacity and capabilities to contribute to the workforce and their local community. It is also about enabling better connections between business, employers, industries, local communities, and the education sector. The key aim of our project was to determine effective interventions that foster employability skills and support young learners to pathway into further education, training, and/or employment. We achieved this through an evaluation of the L2W programme and an investigation into how key stakeholders external to this programme and invested in youth learning and employment success can collaborate to build learners' employability skill development and be successful in their future endeavours. Our evaluation of the programme aimed to identify if there are areas for programme improvement or adaptation, including an investigation of how other Wairarapa-based community and training initiatives work collaboratively with the L2W programme to achieve this goal.

Three key outputs have been developed from the project: (1) A Learner Intervention Strategies Decision-making Model that assists stakeholders in determining effective interventions that support young people in gaining employability skills and developing behaviours that enable them to achieve sustained employment and/or choose to transition into further education or training; (2) A Learner Capability Evaluation Rubric that provides an additional mechanism for evaluating the L2W programme impact and outcomes regarding learner achievement of seven employability skills as identified in the Employability Skills Framework (NZ Ministry of Education); and (3) A Youth-friendly Workplace Guide which provides employers with information about youth-friendly workplaces and strategies they can use to create this in their own work environment.

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This report provides detailed information on the student and provider profiles of the Government-funded vocational education and training (VET) market in Victoria over the 2020 calendar year. VET was one of the sectors adversely impacted by the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic, where lockdowns and travel restrictions led to disruption in training activity. The first section of the report draws on data compiled by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), showing trends between Victoria and other jurisdictions. The remainder of the report reflects data submitted to the Department by TAFE Network providers and by other government-contracted training providers. This compares performance for the 2018, 2019 and 2020 calendar years to illustrate changes and trends for the Victorian training system over time.

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The aim of this Fellowship was to explore and identify quality training for TAFE students who wish to enter the Textiles and Clothing Industry, focussing on sustainability, so they are able to design and develop products that reduce the negative ecological impact of the industry, meet increasing consumer demands, positively impact industry operations and improve current commercial industry practices. This Fellowship allowed the Fellow to research best practice in the world's leading fashion sustainability courses and attend international conferences, gaining access to and research opportunities with leading industry experts, products and innovators to build knowledge for a more sustainable Australian fashion industry. Currency of knowledge is needed for teachers and trainers of fashion and textiles students in sustainable practice. It's important to follow world's best practice and through the Fellowship the aim was to be able to improve the training offered at my current employer as well as supply benefits for other institutes that are teaching fashion and textile design and merchandising courses across Victoria.

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This study explores industry perspectives on the changing nature of graduate roles and the importance of the undergraduate degree, and any impact these have on traditional non-graduate roles in different sectors and industries. Amid declining labour markets, it is critical to consider graduate pathways to employment and the implications of increasing numbers entering non-graduate roles on expectations and turnover. Ongoing disequilibrium in many areas of the graduate labour market points to developing our understanding of alternative pathways into professional roles beyond the undergraduate degree. Interviews were conducted with twenty-one industry members involved in recruiting and/or supervising new graduates. Findings affirmed overeducation among new recruits, highlighting the need for more transparency on employment prospects to prospective higher education students. While there has been extensive research exploring employer perceptions on graduates' preparedness for employment, there has been less consideration of alternative, developmental pathways into entry-level roles to collectively improve youth employment prospects.

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Tripartite Sector Skills Bodies (SSBs) aim to increase and strengthen the involvement of industry, both employers and workers, in the way skill systems are governed and operate. SSBs have a long history in many countries and are now attracting renewed attention as more countries adopt a sectoral approach to skills development. Drawing on existing research on SSBs and ongoing ILO country level support to constituents as they establish or review sector skills bodies, this policy brief outlines some of the issues that need to be addressed when establishing and operating SSBs. The brief examines the different mandates and structures that have been adopted internationally and presents a number of key actions that will improve the likelihood of sustainable SSBs being established.

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This work was conducted by as a part of the Review of University-Industry Collaboration in Teaching and Learning. Undertaken by the Mitchell Institute for Education and Health Policy at Victoria University, this report outlines research that examines the education to work transitions of young Australians using data from the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth (LSAY). The findings have informed and been cited in the Review's final report [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 146.844].

The findings of this research show that work experience does matter. University graduates in areas of study with a high prevalence of work integrated learning (WIL) have consistently better labour market outcomes. For many cohorts, those young people who have employment in skilled occupations while studying are more likely to attain skilled employment by age twenty-five. Overall, this research supports other findings showing formal education experiences, particularly at a course and education system level, that combine an employment contract with formal education, and attract a range of candidates, are those that generally have strong labour market outcomes for young people. This research suggests that finding ways to encourage relevant and authentic work experience may help improve the transitions young people make from education to work. This is particularly important for areas of study where there is traditionally lower instances of work integrated learning, such as those in the general sciences, humanities, and management and commerce areas of study.

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For many years, a key driver for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) has been ensuring that students are prepared for employment post-graduation. This has often resulted in HEIs providing specific modules of study focussing on employability and soft skills. The existing research literature presents a variety of strategies for embedding employability within curricula, often focusing on frameworks to review the provision of employability opportunities within a degree programme. The authors have previously investigated an employability module within an Undergraduate Chemistry Programme at their UK HEI, particularly focusing on students' perceptions - these coalesced around the themes of personal progression, relevance of the module and interactions. However, before using these findings to further develop the module, it was deemed necessary to investigate the module in a different context.

This study investigates the employability module in an Australian HEI and its delivery to undergraduate and postgraduate students from a range of different disciplines. Free text comments from questionnaires answered by 85 participants were subjected to thematic analysis in order to understand students' perceptions of the module in this new context. The new thematic map was compared to that from the original study to reveal several key similarities and differences between students’ perceptions. However, the most important finding is thast employability modules should be tailored to a specific cohort to ensure they are aligned with their needs. This suggests that Central University employability module providers should work closely with individual departments to maximise the impact of these for students.

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