Australian employers in many industries claim they are struggling to find enough skilled trade workers to fill roles in areas including construction, hospitality, health and automotive, which is putting upward pressure on wages. Tim Mead, CEO of construction firm Mead Con, contends that the problem can be attributed to the vocational educational sector, whereas Ruth Schubert from the LM Martin Institute at the University of Melbourne says there is a lack of vision among governments at both federal and state levels regarding vocational education and training (VET). From The AFR:
“I blame the Vocational Education and Training sector,” says Mead. “The VET sector needs to work with industry but they’re going off at a tangent. And unfortunately there’s massive disincentive at high school to go into TAFE. Everyone says ‘why be a plasterer or a carpenter? Why wouldn’t you go to university?'”
