FUTURE OF TRADE

blueprint australian industry trade college

HOW STUDENT CAREER PATHWAYS ARE

PROTECTING THE FUTURE OF TRADE

Career pathways are becoming increasingly important in sustaining the numbers of skilled workers in trade professions. Student pathways and Gateway to Industry programs are proving vital in training the next generation of workers in the skilled trades, which is crucial to the future of our economy.

Australia is presently facing one of the largest skill shortages in decades. In fact, a National Skills Commission report recently indicated that the number of skilled occupations facing labour shortages more than doubled from 2021 to 2022.

One of the most in-demand and critical occupations in Australia is feeling this shortage more so than others. Specifically, nearly half (47 per cent) of jobs in the Technicians and Trades Workers occupation category were in shortage in 2022. With over $100 billion injected into the Australian economy by the manufacturing trade every year, it is vital that this issue be addressed. However, with a little more than 12% of the engineering workforce being female, there is significant opportunity to combat this shortage.

Currently, more than half of Queensland’s manufacturing workforce is over 40 years old, with 72% being male. This presents a unique challenge to the future of the industry if it is unable to inspire upcoming generations to pursue roles within this critical sector.

Thankfully there are various gateway programs which allow schools to partner with industries to help create skilled, eager workers, and opportunities for school leavers. The Gateway to Industry Schools Program for Advanced Manufacturing, hosted by the Queensland Manufacturing Institute (QMI), is a Queensland government initiative aimed at growing the local manufacturing industry and offering trade career pathways.

Together with QMI, an independent, not-for-profit organisation, the Advanced Manufacturing Gateway program’s focus is to support the long-term development of a highly skilled workforce. Helping address Queensland’s ongoing skills shortage in jobs traditionally reserved for men, QMI’s ‘Women Who Weld’ Program, established in 2019, encourages women as young as 14 to learn the skills of industrial welding. Supported by multiple industry sponsors who provide funding that is distributed through QMI to help schools pay for materials, the program is already helping to encourage greater female participation in typically male-dominated sectors of trades and manufacturing.

“Typically, a school’s entire STEM agenda is focused on getting girls into tertiary studies, whereas [the Women Who Weld program] shows there are options into trade pathways where STEM is still very important,” Dalby State High School Principal Dean Russell said.

Notably, the program has sparked a 20% rise in female interest in these career pathways, with the potential to increase yearon-year engagement. This proves the impact that this program is having in the skills space and introduces a new generation of empowered women to the manufacturing sector; one with broader industry awareness, employment-ready skills and closer industry relationships with local communities.

“[Thanks to the QMI Women Who Weld program] I have developed a great curiosity to become an apprentice. I would love to learn more about the opportunities and how I can become part of the industry” said St Ursula College student, Summer Tysoe.

In short:

Currently QLD’s manufacturing employees are mainly male

27%

Women who Weld program has sparked a rise in female interest in these career pathways

FUTURE OF TRADE

DELIBERATELY DIFFERENT.

As outlined in the Queensland Women’s Strategy 2022-27, the government is committing to identifying and supporting talented women and girls to pursue careers in typically male dominated industries like manufacturing. Overall, approximately 27% of Queensland’s manufacturing employees are women, with the most common roles being that of clerical and administrative, as well as community and personal service workers.

Although gender inequality has improved considerably over the past century, men still hold more managerial positions than women in Queensland’s manufacturing industry. However, there is a slow but steady turning in the tide as more businesses recognise the importance of gender diversity in the workplace.

Recent research conducted by McKinsey indicates that businesses with diverse workforces can experience superior financial returns than those without. Moreover, diversity-embracing businesses are believed to be 1.7 times more innovative, as diverse backgrounds and life experiences help to boost creativity in the workplace. It also suggested that more diversity increases the likelihood that businesses will capture more markets by up to 70%.

When faced with an overwhelming skills shortage, it has never been more important to encourage gender diversity in the workplace. The Women Who Weld program offers an exciting insight to a possible career pathway in the manufacturing industry with a one day workshop for female students prior to their subject selection. Taking the format of an initial safety induction, the program then offers an introduction on how to MIG weld, followed by the students learning to craft their very own wind chime or jewellery tree.

“In many respects, this program has been a real game-changer for our girls, opening their eyes to a whole new world of career options in a sector traditionally dominated by men,” says teacher, Mr Russell.

With the potential to foster and support the long term development of a highly-skilled workforce in Queensland, the program is actively sparking the interest and enthusiasm needed to help drive greater numbers of females toward a career in this critical sector.

Lachlan Wright, GISP Advanced Manufacturing Program Manager, notes that since its launch in 2019, the Women Who Weld program continues to flourish and is now held in over 12 regions each year and has over 350 student participants and counting.

“It has been great to see the Women Who Weld program be received so well by its participants. We look forward to replicating its success and continuing to encourage female students to explore exciting manufacturing career pathways” says Lachlan.

By looking to the future with an ethical, sustainable and gender neutral view, we have the ability to close the skills gap and ensure that trade businesses have access to the skilled workers they need to compete on the global stage. In the end, careers shouldn’t have gender.

Article credit: Small and Mighty Group

Queensland Manufacturing Employment by Occupation & Gender

Legend: Female Male

Source: QLD Government, Women in Manufacturing Strategy Consultation Paper, August 2022

38%

37%

27%

26%

13% 77%

67%

62%

63%

73%

74%

87% 23%

33%

Clerical and administrative workers

Community and personal service workers

Labourers

Sales Workers

Professionals

Managers

Machinery operators and drivers