Evidence of Skill Shortages in the Engineering Trades.

In this report the author suggests that while there has been growing concern about skill shortages in a number of sectors in the Australian labour market in the past couple of years, such concerns are not particularly new since skill shortages are a recurring feature of the Australian labour market. In developing appropriate industry or sector-based responses to skill shortages it is necessary first to determine to what extent skill shortages exist in terms of the types of skills in short supply and the areas where they are in short supply and what the underlying causes of these existing shortages are. Evidence about patterns and trends in trades employment and training in the engineering trades is reviewed in order to gauge the nature and extent of any skills shortages. The report suggests that some skills shortages are emerging in Australia’s engineering trades.