By Matthew Sims
More than a third of employers in the western suburbs of Melbourne have indicated that they are lagging behind in terms of required skills, with another third expecting a skills shortage within the next year, according to a new Victoria University [VU] report.
The Centre for International Research on Education Systems at the Mitchell Institute has released a report showing that close to half of the workers of Melbourne’s west must leave the west for work, while local employers have said they have been unable to find local staff with the right skills.
Altona North-based business Australian Website Services has has built about 800 websites for small and medium-sized businesses including local cafes, tradies and community services, with most of its clients based in Melbourne’s west.
Australian Website Services digital director Stephen Los said he has found it hard to find locals with the required skills, so only three of his 10 current staff are based within the western suburbs of Melbourne.
“I would absolutely love to hire locally since 98 per cent of our customers are in the west, and it makes sense to have staff who live here and understand the region,” he said.
Mr Los said there has been an issue of discrepancies between job needs and available skills within the west for a number of years.
“The digital skills training that high school students are taught in 2022 is almost the same as the old ‘multimedia’ classes I did 20 years ago,” he said.
“It gets better at university, but kids are not being properly prepared.”
The report also found that skills poaching is common in the region, as employers pay higher wages to attract good workers from competitors rather than invest in upskilling current staff.
Vice Chancellor Professor Adam Shoemaker said place-based efforts and collaboration between all stakeholders would support jobs growth within the west.
“We are confident that this region will have a prosperous future,” he said.
