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This report shows the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector in Australia is on the brink of crisis. In the largest survey of its kind, nearly 4,000 current and former educators revealed they are leaving the sector at record levels because of excessive workloads and low pay. Over a quarter of current educators reported they plan to leave the sector within the next twelve months, and of those educators who do plan to stay, almost half (46 per cent) think about leaving 'all of the time' or 'most of the time'. In contrast, projections show the sector needs 40,000 additional staff by 2023 to meet growing demand for early learning services.

The report also found: 70 per cent of educators surveyed said they 'always' or 'often' worry about their financial situation; 81 per cent of centre directors say they have had difficulties in attracting and recruiting staff; 92 per cent of educators told us 'under-the-roof' ratios compromise the safety and wellbeing of children; 65 per cent of educators report that their services are already understaffed, and providers are reporting having to cap new enrolments because they can't find enough staff; 82 per cent of current educators say that in the past month they 'always' or 'often' felt rushed when performing key caring and/or educational tasks; over 75 per cent of educators strongly agree that turnover negatively impacts how children learn and develop as well as their emotional wellbeing more broadly; and almost half of educators surveyed would not recommend ECEC as a career.

The [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic has taken the workforce crisis to breaking point. Educators report an increase in workload since the pandemic and over the last few years. The main reason for this increased workload is 'extra time needed for cleaning duties' (85 per cent). Educators have also had to deal with a more stressful and anxious working environment since the pandemic began. Not only are they themselves under more stress, but just under half (49 per cent) of educators said they have needed more time to manage children's anxiety, and just over half (53 per cent) said they have needed more time to manage parent anxiety.

Edited excerpt from publisher's website and publication. Show less

This publication contributes to better understanding of vocational education and training (VET) in Sweden and how it operates within the socioeconomic context. In Sweden, learners can follow upper secondary initial VET programmes in school-based form or as an apprenticeship, achieving a qualification at [European Qualifications Framework] EQF level 4. At higher VET, 1- to 2-year and 2- to 3-year VET programmes are offered at EQF levels 5 and 6.

The employment rate of VET graduates is higher than the EU-27 average, but the share of initial VET learners in total upper secondary education is quite low (35.6 per cent). The country has above 34 per cent participation in lifelong learning, the highest among the EU-27 Member States. Lack of teachers, ICT specialists and the skills mismatch between labour market needs and graduate qualifications are current challenges for the country. To increase the attractiveness of VET, several measures were launched, such as facilitating progression to higher education.

Excerpt from publication.

The chapters are: (1) External factors influencing VET; (2) VET provision; (3) Shaping VET qualifications; and (4) Promoting VET participation. Show less

This article analyses the conditions under which employers grant immigrants access to jobs corresponding to their foreign education. It is often observed that employers prefer native-educated employees and devalue foreign education. We argue that part of this devaluation is due to institutional differences in education systems. Nevertheless, hiring foreign-educated immigrants is becoming a viable strategy for employers given the substantial shortage of skilled labour and the significant influx of skilled immigrants. Using a factorial survey, we simulate a hiring process and present a series of hypothetical foreign applicants to employers in Germany. Our findings show that the transferability of foreign qualifications strongly depends on the institutional characteristics of foreign education systems. However, employers are willing to accept differences in education because they consider institutional differences a trade-off against other dimensions, such as relevant foreign work experience.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

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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The Labour Market Updates are quarterly reports that provide information about issues affecting Australia's current and emerging labour market. This update brings together a range of Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) and Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data sources to analyse the state of the Australian labour market in the September quarter of 2023.

The report found that around 88 per cent of total employment growth (over the year to August 2023) was in occupations that typically require post-school qualifications. This reflects the importance of the higher education and Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems to growing a high-skilled Australian workforce. Around 60 per cent of total employment growth over this period was in occupations where VET qualifications are the primary pathway. This is reinforced by JSA's latest projections, that suggest that by May 2028, 100 per cent of all roles will require at least a secondary education (or Skill Level 5), with 86 per cent requiring a tertiary qualification (or Skill Levels 1-4). Other highlights include: a weakening of labour market resilience; female employment growth is particularly strong; and persistent shortages for Aged or Disabled Carers, Electricians, Child Carers and Carpenters.

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The objective of this paper is to study Romanian employees' perceptions on the relationship between education system performance and labour market requirements. The research was focused on the analysis of the labour market in Romania in terms of the skills required by the current job. The questions were aimed at studying three main aspects related to the current jobs of Romanian employees: (1) general characteristics (length of service, source of information about current job, the degree of satisfaction related to different aspects of it); (2) mismatches between the level or type of education and job requirements (time to become effective, how they acquired knowledge and skills held, the contribution of education and training to improve performance in current job, over-qualification versus under-qualification, over-education versus under-education); and (3) situation in terms of skills held and those required by the workplace (skill obsolescence, skill shortages, skill gap). The results show that even in a crisis period when unemployment is at high values, employers have difficulties in finding appropriate qualifications for some jobs, or the right candidate for the vacancies. Even current employees lack some important abilities or skills such as motivation, loyalty or responsibility.

Edited abstract from publication. Show less

The Committee for Economic Development of Australia's (CEDA) submission to the Employment White Paper focuses on policy reforms to deliver a more dynamic labour market - breaking down barriers to workers moving across jobs and to more people participating fully in work. Looming structural adjustments including digital transformation, the energy transition and an ageing population will require an adaptive and agile labour market to deliver labour and skills where and when they are most needed. In preparation for these transitions, Australia needs to reverse long-term trends of declining dynamism and job mobility, while addressing entrenched barriers in the labour market. To this end, the submission will comprise five individual papers on skills recognition, housing market barriers, occupational gender segregation, training for the long-term unemployed, and the structure of unemployment benefits.

Occupational licensing sets legal requirements to practice an occupation such as teaching, being a plumber, painter or an electrician, restricting entry for people who have developed skills through alternate routes or in other jurisdictions. Mismatches between skills and job requirements have historically been more common in Australia than in other developed countries, and not fully recognising existing skills exacerbates skill shortages. Occupational licensing is widespread in Australia, covering around one in five employees. Reducing the coverage and stringency of occupational licensing could deliver lower prices, more labour mobility and up to $5 billion in benefits from higher productivity. The three recommendations of this paper are: (1) standardise licensing requirements nationally; (2) review licensing regulations; and (3) reduce occupational licensing and shift regulation where necessary towards quality standards for goods and services within consumer law.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less