Key findings and skills response recommendations

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New technology - New skills

For workforces, changes towards new technologies combined with the recovery from the disruption caused by COVID-19, means adapting to new ways of working and learning new skills more rapidly.

Skills response recommendation

Adapting to new ways of working and learning new skills more rapidly will require a focused effort across a number of areas:

  • Ensuring that existing qualifications in all manufacturing sectors reflect contemporary requirements including new technologies, digitalisation, data analysis and compliance awareness
  • Supporting sustainability and the circular economy including making energy efficiency skills more widely available within all relevant qualifications to support SMEs to respond in the national and state regulatory environment on waste,
    recycling and product stewardship
  • Supporting the development of new skills such as design and prototyping and supply chain mapping to enable onshoring
  • Extending apprenticeships in a nationally consistent manner to support the development of new occupational areas such as space and minerals processing
  • Setting up a dedicated, forward-focused structure to support new and emerging industries, enabling anticipation of future job roles and development of relevant qualifications