Dean of Engineering at UNSW, Sydney Professor Mark Hoffman has proposed a three-point action plan to increase tech skills in the Australian workforce and reduce reliance on imported expertise.

His three-point plan focuses on exposing children to high-tech skills training, increased funding for engineering-related higher education at universities and TAFEs, and stronger collaboration between business and education providers to link education and job-skills.

Professor Hoffman believes the current shortage of engineers and related high-tech professionals has put pressure on core domestic industries – including residential development, which has caused people to move out of their homes.

“The shortage of skilled engineers and tradespeople fit for modern innovative building techniques was a factor leading to the spate of building defects,” says Professor Hoffman. “If this skills trend continues, we will see a critical shortage of appropriately trained technical engineers across many fields including telecommunications, construction, robotics and artificial intelligence, renewable energy, computer science and aerospace.”

Professor Hoffman was one of the experts appointed by the NSW government to inquire into the Opal Tower crisis. He highlights that there is a discrepancy between the skills needed for future technology jobs and the opportunities to gain these skills through the education system.

“A lack of coherency in linking education to skills needs is evident in the critical field of STEM disciplines. Technology skills are increasingly related to newly created jobs and those of the future and, yet overall we have seen in recent years domestic engineering student numbers falling by around 12 per cent compared to a rise of around 44 per cent for international students,” says Professor Hoffman.

Skills shortages affecting industry

According to the UNSW Skills of the Future survey, the community does not want to redress the shortage of engineering graduates by bringing in these skills from overseas.

According to findings, the solution is to introduce engineering technology subjects into high school education. Doing so will addres a gap where students gain a feel for science but are not exposed to the link with technology and engineering. Another solution is for the government to fund more university places in engineering fields.

“There is a gap in our school STEM education system where students are exposed to foundational science (S) and maths (M) but not the link to technology (T) and engineering (E) where the drastic skills shortages lie. We urgently need to raise awareness of and engage the T and E in STEM,” says Professor Hoffman.

“This is evidenced by the fact that twice the number of students then enter science degrees than engineering at university. The low number of domestic technology and engineering students compared to the skills demand is also partly a decision of universities.

“Government funding is allocated essentially equally to teach science and engineering, but universities allocate nearly twice as many places to science and typically provide easier pathways for entry,” continues Professor Hoffman.

“That’s understandable, but we need to do more at school and university level to help Australia redress its chronic shortage of high-tech skilled workers which our industries are increasingly relying on.”

Three-point action plan

In light of these findings, Professor Hoffman is calling for a high-level roundtable discussion by government, business and the education sector to develop a plan of action.

Professor Hoffman sees three key opportunities. He suggests that the country needs to exposes school children, especially girls, to high-tech skills training and job pathways. He also highlights the need for expanded government funding for engineering-related higher education at universities and TAFEs.

Likewise, there needs to be stronger collaboration in providing and linking education and jobs skills between business and education providers.

Higher education figures sector figures demonstrate the imbalance between school student study areas and employment prospects. Figures show the number of students in science-related subjects to significantly outweigh those in engineering and IT-related subjects. Yet, after university graduation only 65 per cent of science students have full-time work after four months compared with 83 per cent for engineering.

Correspondingly, when asked about the most important knowledge areas for the skills of the future, respondents of the Skills of the Future survey put law, business, accounting and marketing last, and said the most important were trades, science/medical, technical engineering followed by computer science.

Connecting industry and education

The Skills of the Future survey also found that 78 per cent of respondents believe future essential job skills will involve creativity, problem-solving skills, being able to collaborate and digital intelligence.

Likewise, the main reasons for a lack of women in engineering are lack of exposure at school to its career opportunities, a male-dominated culture in the profession, and societal expectations biased in the profession towards males.

“While engineering degrees do require some industry job placement, not all degrees at university offer this and both the community and business feel this is essential,” explains Professor Hoffman.

“Most people told us courses jointly run by universities and industry was the best way to meet the skills of the future for Australia and they also felt there was currently a disconnect between what is studied at university and the types of jobs our country needs.

“We must change our education system to tackle this and we can’t just keep bringing in overseas trained people and students to fill our job knowledge gaps. We must tackle this issue domestically by looking through all of the links in the chain,” concludes Professor Hoffman.

Australians want a home-grown future

A majority of Australians believe the continued and increasing need for high-technology skills in the workforce should be addressed through homegrown education and not by foreign skilled immigration, according to a new attitudinal survey.

It found that compounding the current critical shortage of high-tech qualified workers, Australia-based businesses and workers educated and trained in high-tech skills are heading overseas where they are better supported.

However, findings suggest that most people want local students and workers to be trained for and to stay in Australia’s own high-tech jobs and companies to help build the nation’s opportunities and prosperity.

The survey found that 66 per cent of respondents believe the current training and education system does not adequately prepare school leavers for the jobs and skills of the future.

Likewise, 67 per cent find that there is a disconnect between what people study and the types of jobs the country needs. And 64 per cent believe that at least 40 per cent of a university degree should be on-the-job training to get hands-on skills.

The findings follow recent revelations where skills challenges have negatively affected the banking and residential construction industries.