struggle to attract skilled workers amid underemployment crisis
- Employers
increasingly dissatisfied with training system
- Labor’s
Free TAFE policy tackles the problem head on
The Liberal Government
is ignoring businesses crying out for qualified staff as Tasmanians continue to
struggle to find enough work to make ends meet.
Labor
Leader Rebecca White said many Tasmanians are being left behind and the trend
towards insecure work means our best and brightest are continuing to leave,
even as industry struggles to attract appropriately skilled or trained workers.
“Despite
the Liberals boasting on jobs, Tasmania’s unemployment rate is still the third
worst in the country and underemployment is the worst in the country. Not only
that, it’s the worst it’s ever been in any state or territory.
“Something
is very wrong when we have an underemployment crisis in this state at the same
time employers are desperate to attract skilled workers.
“Recent data from the Productivity Commission show Tasmanian employers are increasingly dissatisfied with the training system,” Ms White said.
“This reinforces what we’re hearing from those
directly involved in industry. Without qualified locals, many have resorted to
flying skilled workers in to the state.
“At a time when 46,100 Tasmanians
are either unemployed or need more hours, this is inexcusable.
“The Liberals can claim
success on jobs all they want, but with so many people left behind, this is
clearly a fallacy.
Ms White said more than
70 per cent of new jobs created since 2014 have been part-time, meaning many
people are working more than one job just to feed their families and keep a
roof over their heads. Meanwhile the youth unemployment rate is an alarming
12.2 per cent.
“Ensuring more
Tasmanians can get jobs is one of the most important things we can do to
maintain a strong economy and overcome poverty.
“Our free TAFE policy will help young people, and older people who are retraining, by supporting them to complete courses in key industries facing skills shortages, including tourism, aged and disability care, agriculture and building and construction.
“Our public training
provider is only as strong as its relationship with the businesses it serves.
If it is not offering the training that students and employers need, everyone
loses.
“Labor is serious about tackling this problem head on. Unless the Liberals do the same, industry will go elsewhere and we will continue to lose our best and brightest to opportunities interstate.”
Rebecca White
Labor Leader
