THE FUTURE SKILLS ODYSSEY STARTS WITH VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Thinking about the futuristic skills that will be in demand in coming decades often conjures up images of robots, machines and even space expeditions.
Vocational education and training (VET) will be crucial for workers to achieve the skills for these jobs of the future, no matter what the jobs will be and regardless of whether they have been invented yet.
Federal and state governments across Australia are already working on plans to give workers the skills they will need for these jobs, working on VET initiatives with industry partners and training organisations.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SKILLS
Across all occupations, artificial intelligence is the latest major shift in the technological transformation of the workforce.
Jobs and Skills Australia report Our Gen AI Transition reveals Gen AI is more likely to augment jobs than replace them and the impact of AI will vary across occupations, industries, regions and groups of people.
It finds at least 79 per cent of workers will require some level of AI skills, with 17 per cent required to work with AI in a medium capacity, while 4 per cent will have a high exposure to AI.
Short courses and microcredentials may be able to give workers the more advanced skills they need to work with AI in their everyday roles.
“One key takeaway is that some foundational level of digital and AI literacy and capability will be important for all workers,” the report states.
“While this may be usefully embedded into existing training pathways, there is often value in providing AI user training to workers who are otherwise technically adept.
“For instance, even qualified engineers have been shown to gain confidence in their use of and decision-making about Gen AI through training.
“It is important to note that, regardless of AI-led changes, traditional qualifications will remain essential.
“They provide the foundational knowledge, critical thinking, and abilities to learn and adapt – capabilities that will be critical for those entering the Gen AI-enabled workforce.”
SPACE SKILLS
The world is looking beyond planet Earth and wants to harness the opportunities space can unlock for various activities ranging from agriculture and the environment to communication and national security.
The 2025 Industry Skills Australia Aviation Workforce Plan forecasts the space sector’s workforce will grow by 6 per cent a year to 2030, when it is expected to employ about 25,000 people.
It is a key growth industry for Australia because the nation’s geography is suitable for everything from rocket and satellite launches, ground station operations and remote sensing capability to communicating with and tracking spacecraft.
The workforce plan states there are currently no nationally recognised qualifications or specific industry training options available for emerging space industry roles.
However, it highlights the role vocational qualifications will play in providing workers with transferable skills as well as attracting new and diverse talent to the sector.
“There are specific areas where the vocational sector can help with future skilling the workforce, by either developing new skills or contextualising the existing ones to cater for the space transport industry,” the plan states.
“Incorporating space-related training into existing aviation training pathways and qualifications will be a positive step forward.”
The Australian Space Agency has produced a booklet outlining more than 30 existing space careers across five broad areas to help jobseekers find a role and study pathway that suits them.
It includes an amazing range of vocational occupations that can be achieved through apprenticeships, traineeships or stand-alone VET courses.
They include CAD drafter and designer, engineering technician or technologist, CNC machinist, mechanical technician, assembly/assembler technician including aircraft maintenance technician, production test technician, avionics technician, and automation and robotics technician.
Meanwhile, VET qualifications can be pathways into bachelor degrees that are required for many more occupations.
These include software developer and engineer, intelligent game developer, network and systems administrator, cyber security specialist and manager, work health and safety officer, space business development manager, and project manager and mission manager, space communicator, graphic designer, and media and PR professional.
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DIGITAL SKILLS
As technology continues to permeate Australians’ personal and professional lives, digital skills are increasingly sought after in the workforce.
The Future Skills Organisation Workforce Plan 2025 reveals demand for technology workers across all industries will grow by 4.5 per cent a year, to employ almost 1.1 million people by 2030.
However, a shortfall of 131,000 workers is expected, with the largest deficit projected to
be for software and application Programmers (19,600 workers).
Another 154,000 workers will need to acquire new skillsets
Skills most in demand are expected to be advanced programming, cloud computing, AI modelling, cybersecurity, algorithms, system architecture, data structures, and other emerging technologies such as quantum.
Vocational education and training has been identified as being crucial to overcoming these skill shortages, providing the flexible, supportive and relevant training workers require to take on these roles.
For example, VET is highlighted as a key approach to addressing the expected shortage in the NSW Government’s NSW Digital Skills and Workforce Compact 2023-30.
The Compact combines the resources, knowledge, and expertise of the NSW Government, employers, digital industry groups, and the education and training sectors, highlighting six pillars of action.
Making training more responsive to industry needs and plugging the leaks in training and careers are two of the pillars, alongside driving diversity in the digital workforce, helping people move into digital training and jobs, changing the way people think about digital careers, and using government levers to drive digital job growth.
Tech Council of Australia CEO Damian Kassabgi says the pledge will help open doors for individuals of varying backgrounds and experiences.
“Alternative pathways, such as vocational training, vendor courses, and earn-while-you-learn models, play a vital role in building our tech workforce pipeline,” he says.
“We believe (the pledge) will play a significant role in the development of innovation and growth in our sector, helping to secure Australia’s digital future.”
Other Accenture research reveals increasing alternative pathways to 20 per cent may increase the number of skilled ICT workers by 31,000, including the number of women employed by seven per cent and the number of people living with a disability employed by four per cent.
It may also double the share of First Nations Australians employed as new tech workers.
“We have a real opportunity to make a difference,” Accenture Australia managing director Tenielle Colussi says in the research.
“Gone are the days when candidates need a degree to be considered for a role.
“By removing barriers and ensuring job opportunities are open to those who have alternate pathway experience, or offering programs that include alternative pathways, we’re not only solving for a talent gap, but creating exciting and fulfilling opportunities for amazing individuals who would have remained hidden in the workforce.”
Experienced workers may also gain digital skills through VET, such as single subjects and microcredentials, that have been identified as important ways to reskill.
ReadyTech and TAFE NSW are among 41 Compact Partners who have so far signed the 20% Alternative Pathways Pledge.
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MANUFACTURING SKILLS
Australia has a long manufacturing history from cars to clothes but recent shifts to boost advanced manufacturing have led to an urgent demand for higher skilled workers.
Whether it is medical, defence, energy or food manufacturing, cutting-edge technology is being used to make high-value products.
The Manufacturing Industry Skills Alliance projects another 400,000 workers will be required nationally by 2040.
In Queensland, for example, Manufacturing Skills Queensland was established by the Queensland Government to help ensure it has the skilled workforce it needs, both through VET and higher education.
Queensland now has 20 per cent of the nation’s manufacturing workforce, up from 18.5 per cent at the start of the decade, as the state focuses on increasing its manufacturing capability.
Manufacturing Skills Queensland supports the Queensland Government’s $70 million investment in manufacturing skills and training, and in the 2025-26 financial year will subsidise qualifications and short courses to help new workers enter the industry and existing workers to upskill.
This will help reduce barriers for people to obtain in-demand qualifications, skill sets and non-accredited training in areas such as technical drawing and CAD; welding; CNC and advanced machining production; leadership and management; and environmental, social and governance (ESG).
Occupation-specific skills are not the only skills the manufacturing industry in Queensland is looking to boost, with MSQ recently releasing two specialised courses to help workers build resilience and improve their mental health.
In its Annual Training Plan, it reveals the non-accredited short courses – the 75-minute Building Resilience for Manufacturing Leaders and 60-minute Building Resilience for Manufacturing Employees courses – are available to any manufacturing leader or employee who wants to upskill.
Meanwhile, MSQ’s Women in Trades Mentoring Program aims to increase the number of female apprentices completing their training through an online matching platform, networking opportunities and virtual training modules.
The Queensland Government is also updating the facilities that manufacturers can use, such as creating the Manufacturing Centre of Excellence in Maryborough, to boost their competitiveness domestically and internationally.
The state-of-the-art facility will feature cutting-edge manufacturing and engineering spaces equipped with the latest technology as well as training and skills development programs tailored to the manufacturing sector’s needs.
READ MORE: Mathew McGlashan’s story
INDUSTRY FOCUS: DEFENCE
Whether it is digital, space or advanced manufacturing skills, Australia’s defence sector will need them all.
The AUKUS partnership between the Australian, UK and US Governments has heightened the focus on developing a skilled defence manufacturing workforce, as it is the largest and most important defence capability project Australia has ever embarked upon.
AUKUS will create around 20,000 direct jobs over the next 30 years across industry and government, including building Australia’s SSN-AUKUS submarines at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in South Australia through sovereign submarine partners ASC and BAE Systems.
This will require many vocationally trained workers, such as contract, program and project administrators; electricians; engineering production workers; metal fitters and machinists; production managers; structural steel and welding trades workers; and purchasing and supply logistics officers.
READ MORE: Jack Donaldson’s story
Meanwhile, digital skills will also be required to develop the systems that operate the submarines and other defence capabilities, such as software and applications programmers.
Space skills will be required as technologies become increasingly vital for modern military operations and national security.
The Jobs and Skills Outlook 2024, released by Skills SA, reveals South Australia’s defence sector already employs more than 14,000 workers, with another 10,000 workers directly required in the defence industry in the next 20 years, and thousands more in associated industries.
Already, SA has developed vocational pathways into the defence industry through the South Australia Defence Sector Strategy 2030, which integrates skills initiatives from primary and secondary school through VET and higher education.
It includes students at Findon Technical College – the first of five new technical colleges for high school students – receiving work experience and industry insights into advanced manufacturing and engineering jobs in the defence sector as part of their secondary schooling and vocational training.
The Defence Industry Pathways Program, meanwhile, is a new 12-month paid traineeship to give 150 trainees over three years hands-on experience and training across various sectors of the defence industry.
The Shipbuilding Employment Pathways program is also funding 125 apprentices to start their trade qualifications in critical trades.
Meanwhile, BAE Systems is undertaking its own training initiatives.
It offers trade apprenticeships in avionics (aeroskills), aeroskills (mechanical) , aeroskills (structures), electrical, electronics, fabrication, mechanical (fitter) and mechanical (machining).
It also has three degree apprenticeship areas – software engineering, mechanical (systems engineering) and mechanical engineering.
A degree apprenticeship is a new higher education option, designed to get engineers into the workforce quicker.
It combines academic study and on-the-job training that interconnect.
Applications are now open for its 2026 apprentice program recruitment campaign, as well as its degree apprenticeships.
When considering your training pathway for jobs of the future, don’t be afraid to Explore All The Options
Cara Jenkin is a freelance journalist with more than 20 years’ experience working in the print, digital and television media. It included 10 years as the editor of NewsCorp’s Careers employment section, covering topics ranging from education and training to workplace