Workplace Skills Investment Vital for Workforce Adaptability
Australian data highlights the importance of employer-led training, workplace learning and continuous upskilling in building a resilient workforce equipped to adapt to technological and economic changes.
Delicious Mathuthu 
Canberra – On-the-job training and workplace learning remain essential components for developing a resilient workforce capable of adapting to global technological and structural economic changes, official Australian data shows.
In an insights paper titled Measuring Employer Investments in Learning: Insights, Challenges and a Pathway Forward, Australian statutory authority, Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), highlighted that workplace learning helps employees build, apply, and transfer skills throughout their professional careers.
Australia's last employer investment measure was made over 20 years ago, leaving a gap as focus on productivity and workforce capability increases.
The report reveals that contemporary evidence strengthens understanding of where workplace learning is happening, where gaps remain and how learning supports skills, workforce capability and productivity.
JSA Acting Commissioner, Megan Lilly, stated that employer-led human capital investment plays a vital role that complements formal education sectors and government initiatives.
"Most discussions about skills focus on the upfront formal study that people undertake, but employers play a major role in helping workers build, apply and transfer their skills throughout their careers," Lilly said.
She added that workforce adaptability requires continuous upskilling as labour market dynamics evolve due to demographic and technological transitions.
"The value that employers add to the workforce goes beyond direct financial investments in training and includes good job design that enables workers to apply and deepen their skills over time," Lilly noted.
The report establishes a framework to strengthen evidence-based policy formulation, aiming to address data gaps regarding productivity, skills acquisition, and long-term workforce capabilities.
