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The [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vital contribution and value of migrant workers to our societies and economies. Yet their jobs have often been labelled as 'low-skilled', their work has been undervalued and their rights have been denied. As a result, many have risked their lives on the COVID-19 frontline while lacking the basic social protections enjoyed by other workers. Many national and local governments have relaxed migration regulations and created new incentives for migrant workers in essential services, demonstrating that migration policies - regardless of today's increasingly polarised debates - can and do change when necessary. This matters for the post-pandemic recovery, given that countries will continue to rely on migrant workers of all skills levels. The following policy recommendations emerge from our research: (1) Enhance routes to regularisation, in recognition of migrants' vital contribution to essential services; (2) Expand legal migration pathways, ensuring safe working conditions for all, to support post-COVID-19 global recovery, tackle shortages in essential workforces and fill skills gaps; (3) Ensure that migrants, whatever their status, have access to key basic services and social protection; and (4) Detach immigration policies from inflexible 'low' and 'high' skills classifications. Workers of all skills levels will be essential in the long path to recovery.

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When enterprises decide to employ apprentices and trainees they do so as alternatives to other forms of labour, such as already-skilled workers or unskilled workers who will not be offered contracts of training. In their decisions, particularly in the increasingly tight Australian labour market, they will consider specific labour shortages which may be at the entry level or may be at more senior levels, and they think about whether apprenticeships and traineeships may help to meet those shortages either immediately or in the future. This paper uses a number of case studies carried out as part of an international research project to examine this decision-making process and the reasons that employers give for placing their trust in the New Apprentice system to attract and develop the right sort of worker to meet their current or projected shortages.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 9th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference are indexed from TD/TNC 86.226 to TD/TNC 86.262. Show less

The impact of the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic has, in general, been considerably more severe on entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) than on larger organizations. This fact is critical to note since SMEs are the backbone of the Canadian economy, employing almost 90 per cent of all Canadians who work in the private sector. SMEs faced significant challenges even before the pandemic. Skills gaps and labour shortages have long been a feature of the Canadian economy and they remain a top concern for SMEs. The purpose of this report is twofold: First, it reviews existing research on SMEs' and entrepreneurs' skills, upskilling and training needs, and proposes options for better supporting them as they strive to recover from the pandemic and prepare for what comes next. In particular, this review highlights barriers and challenges faced by entrepreneurs who are members of equity-seeking groups, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, this report presents preliminary results from a survey on skills and competencies (a survey that is still in the field as of June 2021) and from a set of focus groups conducted as part of the same project.

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[This report] analyzes the growing need for qualified nurses. The study projects that the economy will create 1.6 million job openings for nurses through 2020. Yet, there will not be enough nurses to fill those openings. [The authors] project the nursing workforce will be facing a shortfall of roughly 200,000 nursing professionals by 2020. One of the reasons for the growing demand is due to changing demographics; older nurses are retiring in large numbers, creating thousands of job openings. Another factor is the Affordable Care Act, which expands health insurance coverage to millions of job openings. In addition, nursing schools lack the faculty, facilities, and training sites to match the growing demand.

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The Jobs and Skills Summit (the Summit) will bring together Australians, including unions, employers, civil society, and government, to discuss our shared economic challenges and propose both immediate and long-term solutions. The goal of the Summit is to find common ground on how Australia can build a bigger, better trained and more productive workforce; boost real wages and living standards; and create more opportunities for more Australians.

The Summit will cover five broad themes: (1) Maintaining full employment and growing productivity; (2) Boosting job security and wages; (3) Lifting participation and reducing barriers to employment; (4) Delivering a high-quality labour force through skills, training and migration; and (5) Maximising opportunities in the industries of the future. Throughout the Summit there will be a strong overarching focus on women's experiences of the labour market and ensuring women have equal opportunities and equal pay.

This Issues Paper outlines the labour market challenges associated with these five themes. It is intended to provide Summit participants and the broader community with a common understanding of these issues so that we can begin working towards solutions to our shared economic challenges and ensure the labour market delivers good outcomes for all. The Summit is the first stage in the process. Ideas raised at the Summit may also be explored further through the White Paper on Employment (the White Paper), which will map a comprehensive blueprint for Australia's future labour market.

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There is a global demand for health professionals. In developing countries, the health workforce is ageing rapidly. In Australia, 42 per cent of surgeons were aged over 55, and the average age of nurses was 50. Health workforce migration is seen as an answer to short-term domestic labour shortages. In Australia, migrant health workers are often recruited to work in rural, regional and remote areas. Developed countries are looking at specific migration categories that are designed to attract and retain skilled workers. Changes in the rules for international students are also being examined as a way of alleviating the shortages. Australia, like other developed countries, will face increased competition in attracting and retaining skilled health migrants. Show less

This applied research project explored the experience of a specific cohort of disability support workers (DSWs) - those who had worked in the disability sector for 6-12 months. It focused on the following questions: (1) Were recent entrants working in the disability sector prepared for their role? (2) Do recent entrants working in the disability sector have access to adequate workplace support? (3) What are the main challenges that recent entrants in the disability sector face? (4) Are recent entrants satisfied with their job? And do they intend to stay in their job? (5) What are the demographic characteristics and job roles of participants? Using a mixed-methods approach – which included a literature review, a survey and interviews - the research team gathered data on the experience of over 50 disability support workers (DSWs) who have been employed by two partner organisations - Yooralla and Able Australia - for a period of 6 to 12 months.

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In many countries, training subsidies and levy schemes are used to tackle the problem that company-based provision of apprenticeship training is low. In this paper, we consider the introduction of a levy scheme in the care sector and estimate the causal effect exerted by substantial redistribution of care worker apprenticeship costs on the training activity of care facilities. We exploit the fact that the underlying apprenticeship levy was introduced across the German federal states at different points in time. For ambulatory care, we find a positive effect on the probability of hiring new apprentices and on the number of new apprentices. Inpatient care facilities react only at the intensive margin. This suggests that the positive effects in this sector are driven mainly by facilities that have already provided training slots before the reform.

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This research study examines the supply and demand for postsecondary healthcare degrees in the state of Oregon. The purpose of this report is to discover any areas of shortage within Oregon's postsecondary healthcare education programs, and the barriers these programs face in expanding to meet student and employment market demand. The report finds that the primary area of shortage in Oregon's postsecondary healthcare education and healthcare employment to be in the area of registered nursing. There is a surplus of qualified students looking to enter Oregon's registered nursing programs, and a shortage of graduates to meet employment demand across every region of Oregon. There is a bottleneck occurring within Oregon's registered nursing programs that is preventing the supply of qualified students from meeting employment market demand for registered nurses. This bottleneck is a primary cause of Oregon's registered nursing employment shortage. The data suggests that Oregon may be able to eliminate its registered nursing shortage through expansion of these registered nursing programs if the barriers preventing expansion are addressed.

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Member States affected by the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic have often resorted to shelter in place orders to stop the virus from spreading widely. These orders have affected many economic activities, but are designed to prevent a shutdown of those essential activities that are meant to keep the population safe and fed. Agriculture is one of those sectors that needs to be kept functional, but mobility restrictions have kept seasonal temporary workers, which this sector has grown reliant on, from reaching their workplace curbing the productivity of this essential sector. This report analyses the potential for the agriculture sector to replace the seasonal workers who are prevented by shelter in place orders from reaching their usual place of work with EU native born workforce. Looking at labour market flows into agriculture in the past decade, this report finds that the probabilities of flows in agriculture are low. Movers into agriculture are mostly migrant men older than 19 living in a rural area and with low qualification. After analysing recent labour market trends, the report concludes that native workers can only partially fill potential vacancies in the sector.

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