OzTech: Can Jobs and Skills Australia solve skills efforts?; CBA launches Melbourne hub; Big increase in tech trainee numbers

Another government, another interim body to try and solve the skills problem

The Australia federal government has introduced a legislation for an interim body, Jobs and Skills Australia, to provide advice on workforce, skills, and training needs. A consultation to define the model for the body is set to start “soon”.

The proposed broader remit includes a focus on workforce planning and developing closer partnerships with state and territory governments, unions, industry, and education providers, the government said in a statement.

How effective another consultation on a body that proposes what the industry has discussed for years, which is collaboration between public and private sector, remains to be seen. With 60,000 visa applications from skilled workers based overseas waiting to be processed, not to mention those of professionals already in the country, a consultation that could take months to possibly come up witha new standard or recommendations will do little for the IT industry and others such as health care and hospitality, that has for many years depended on skilled migration.

CBA launches Melbourne hub

The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has opened a technology hub in Melbourne and through partnerships with Monash and RMIT universities will offer job placements to software engineering students interested in completing their integrated placements working at CBA.

The bank plans to fill at least 400 positions across a range of engineering roles such as cloud, data, analytics, software engineering, and cybersecurity.

The Melbourne hub follows the launch of the Adelaide hub earlier in 2022, which promised job placement for up to 150 techies.

Australia sees big increase in tech trainee numbers

New data from the National Centre for Vocational Education and Research (NCVER) revealed more people currently undertaking training as engineering, ICT, and science technicians in Australia for the December 2021 quarter, with a total of 8,535 across the country, a big jump from the corresponding period in 2020 that had 4,580.

Those that have started trainees or apprenticeships make up 1,745 in the December 2021 quarter, slightly less than the 1,775 registered in the previous correspondent period.

While commencements saw a small decline, withdrawals and cancelations saw a big increase with 690 cancellations in the December 2021 quarter, considerably more than the 245 for the December 2020 quarter.

Those completing their training have increased totalling 455, slightly higher than the 375 of the December 2020 period.