The RightSkills.RightTime? Report uncovers $4Bn annual cost of over-qualification affecting 1 in 4 (2.5million) Australian workers.

SYDNEY, NSW, AUSTRALIA, November 29, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Skills mismatch for 1 in 4 Australian workers costs $4 Billion annually

• The Right Skills. Right Time? Report uncovers the $4 billion annual cost of over-qualification affecting one in four Australian workers
• The SkillsIQ analysis shows 2.5 million Australians have spent money and time on qualifications they don’t need and which don’t make them better at their job
• The report is the first step in a conversation about how we as a community address the growing issue of skills mismatch now and into the future.

29 November 2017: SkillsIQ’s Right Skills. Right Time? Report shows 2.5 million Australian workers (1 in 4) spend time and money on qualifications not needed for their current role at a massive cost of $4.1 billion every year.

SkillsIQ, a national not-for-profit org, works closely with industry to develop standards to make sure Australians have the right skills for jobs now and into the future. The Right Skills. Right Time? report measures for the first time the actual gap between required and actual qualifications of 10 million Australian workers across 400 people-facing occupations.

“In more than half of the people-facing sectors we looked at, anywhere between one in three to more than half of the workers had qualifications they didn’t need and which often failed to deliver the necessary practical skills,” SkillsIQ CEO Yasmin King said. “This over-qualification costs Australians $3.6 billion annually in foregone income due to time spent in unnecessary study and $555 million in superfluous tuition fees – that’s a total cost of $4.1 billion each year.”

“The retail sector has the highest level of skills mismatch with more than half of all workers over-qualified,” she said. “Across the entire economy, the number of jobs requiring a bachelor’s Degree has increased 41% over the past two years as, all too often, employers mistakenly think this provides the best filtering of candidates. As a result, right now one in 13 Australian workers possess a bachelor’s degree that they don’t need for their current role.”

“We as a community need to find a better balance between being “skills-ready” for work and getting the right qualifications at the right time for career development as well as having a proper look at what the most appropriate qualifications are for the job.”

“Four in five parents want their children to go to university rather than undertake vocational education yet nine out of the ten jobs forecast to have the greatest growth in the next five years can be achieved through training courses provided through vocational and educational training.”

“This isn’t about avoiding higher qualifications – more about making sure you’re getting the right qualifications at the right time in your career. It’s also a question of whether higher qualifications are what will give you the skills and career progression you’re looking for.”

Ms King said the Right Skills.Right Time? Report is the first step in a conversation about how we as a community address the issue of skills mismatch now and in the future.

“The next step is to work with our industry stakeholders to come up with some strong, actionable recommendations on how to address the skills mismatch in these sectors.”
The full report is available https://www.skillsiq.com.au/CurrentProjectsandCaseStudies/rightskillsrighttime

Media Contact: Liza-Jayne (LJ) Loch 0488038555 or ljloch@alphaconsulting.global

About SkillsIQ (https://www.skillsiq.com.au/)
SkillsIQ Ltd is a not-for-profit, independent Skills Service Organisation supporting a range of Industry Reference Committees (IRCs) to undertake training product development that ensures skills meet future industry needs.
We support 17 Industry Reference Committees (IRCs) representing some 90 diverse service-related and ‘people-facing’ industry sectors. The IRCs are collectively responsible for overseeing the development and review of ten training packages serving the skills needs of almost 50 per cent of the Australian workforce.
Our IRCs represent industries including community services, health, retail & wholesale, sport, fitness, community recreation, outdoor recreation, tourism, travel, hospitality, events, restaurants, holiday parks & resorts, local government, public sector, hairdressing, beauty services, floristry, community pharmacy and funeral services.
SkillsIQ objectives include facilitating IRCs to advise the Australian Government via the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) on positioning Australia to respond to additional demands for services as our population ages and to capitalise on synergies across the services sector to increase career pathways and mobility and recruitment of young people.

LIZA-JAYNE LOCH
Alpha
488038555
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