We are all well aware that with the increasing retirement of baby boomers not only are we faced with an ageing community but a shrinking labour market and a skills shortage. Demographic changes over the past two or three decades, particularly our falling birthrate, means there is now a shortage of people to fill the vacancies as older workers retire. Added to this, the lure of seachange and early retirement is still strong and well. The net result is the lowest unemployment rate in 30 years, a rate many of us thought would never be achieved again. However, alongside this euphoria is a rapidly increasing skills shortage. In Local Government a skills shortage, particularly in town planning, has been evident for some years. Now engineering and technical areas are also feeling the pinch.
Keynote speaker at the recent International Public Works Conference, Professor Andrew Downing, told delegates that many students at both secondary and tertiary levels are opting away from maths and science. Those who do enrol in engineering are often selecting double degrees, combining with accounting or law, but on graduation are opting for a career in law or commerce.
As all this has unfolded over the past ten or so years, there has been a marked decline in many organsations offering apprenticeships, traineeships and work experience placements. But it is now apparent that this is turning around very quickly.
In this edition we are featuring a number of Councils that are reaping the benefits from such schemes. As well as providing young people with necessary skills to enter the workforce many trainees are later retained by the Councils in full time positions saving the expense of recruitment and avoiding the messy and costly process of bad recruitment decisions.
Work experience placements are vital for Councils to attract young professionals to a career in Local Government. It is clear from recent work by the Municipal Association of Victoria that undergraduates have little or no knowledge of the career options Councils have on offer and therefore look elsewhere. Most of the State Local Government Associations now are working with tertiary institutions to rectify this.
For rural and regional areas, young people who leave the area to further their education, after graduation would like to return if they can get work. Councils need to be proactive in this regard offering holiday or work experience placements.
Once people are employed the last thing a Council wants is, after two or three years of investment, that they move on to greener pastures. Here mentoring, investing in further training and development, career path planning and the like are essential to hold and retain staff. Creating networks across your organisation, particularly as support mechanisms for new employees, is vital. Provide opportunities for staff to gain additional skills by working in various areas in the organisation. Consider offering job exchanges with other Local Governments as well as other public and private sector organisations both in Australia and overseas. Workers will return refreshed, with additional skills and new ideas.
Above all it is vital to be flexible, family friendly and committed to creating a real work/life balance. All this does take time, money and effort but such investment will pay dividends time and time again.
