National Water Skills Audit - Australian Water Association

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Executive SummarySkills Needsand GapsCurrentGapsFuture Gapstaking into account those segments unable to be sampled, anecdotal reports andsecondary data suggest total numbers around double this figure, or more than 80,000.The following results are presented with reference to the total population surveyed, boththe major urban utilities segment surveyed and reported by WSAA in March 2008, and thenon-WSAA segment covered by this May 2008 survey. Where possible, the results havebeen combined.Both surveys have used positions and typical qualifications related to those positionsas surrogate measures of skills. While there are acknowledged imperfections in thisapproach, this was considered the only practical means of achieving an acceptable resultin the time available. The full table of categories and their interpretation are in Appendix C.The total surveyed water sector of 44,400 includes currently unfilled vacancies of upto 5,000. Due to data inconsistencies, it is not possible to state with certainty in whichcategories of employees these vacancies occur. However, it may be inferred fromcompanion data sets that they are predominantly professional and paraprofessionalengineers (more than half), operators, trades and related workers.Half the current WSAA workforce and a quarter of the non-WSAA surveyed workforceare aged over 45, reflecting the different characteristics of the segments, and the relativeimpacts of sector reforms since the 1990s. Other notable differences include the higherproportion of business support functions in the WSAA sample, though this could beattributed to the apportionment of these functions in mixed sector businesses in the non-WSAA sample. Reported female participation figures and part-time worker figures acrossthe whole sector are extremely low.Each survey considered projections of workforce requirements over the next 10 years, to2017 and 2018 respectively, which are considered coincident within the accuracy of theestimates. They are the most realistic projections of current sector managers from theperspective of today. The situation now and 2018 projections are illustrated in Figure S.1Figure S1: Current and projected surveyed workforce requirements 2008 and 201860,00050,000Growth40,000VacanciesPositions tobe filledResignationsEmployees30,000Retirements20,00010,000WorkforceDepletedWorkkforce02008 2018viICE WaRM • National Skills Audit (Phase One) Report
Executive SummaryFor the WSAA segment, estimates of workforce growth were very modest, possiblyreflecting the long period of down-sizing and expectation of continued constraints. Themost significant issue in this group was the depletion in the current workforce due toretirements and resignations from staff leaving the sector altogether. The total 8,700 newstaff required by 2017 are identified across all categories, including 2,300 professionals andmanagers, 1,700 operators, 800 paraprofessionals and 800 trades and related workers.Growth in total workforce was the most significant factor in projected gaps in 2018 forthe non-WSAA segment surveyed, possibly anticipating that much of the works arisingfrom the announced $40 billion sector investments over the next eight to ten years will beundertaken by this group. Retirements and resignations out of the sector, though seriousin terms of impacts, were numerically less significant in the total 17,900 gap, which againcovered all categories. The highest demand in this sector segment will be for professionalengineers and scientists, totalling 7,100.Adding the results of both surveys gives an estimated total 2018 workforce of 54,900, only28,400 of whom will be people currently employed in the sector in 2008. The projected gapof 26,600 is attributable almost half (47 per cent) to growth, and about a quarter each toretirements and resignations out of the sector.It was considered useful to map these new workers to the matrix of employment categoryagainst the minimum requirement for that position within the Australian QualificationFramework. This data is presented in Table S.1, which shows that almost half the totalrequire a bachelor level or higher degree, predominantly for the categories of managers,professional engineers and scientists. Vocational level qualifications are required for theother half of the total, spread across three levels of certification.All these projections refer to the population represented by the surveys; the totals forthe whole Australian water sector are much higher. As above, extensions to this widerboundary must be speculative, and more so for future projections. Estimates indicate thenational sector workforce in 2018 may be up to 100,000, with a gap of more than 40,000 tobe filled by skilled new entrants. The skills requirements of this cohort are likely to be evenmore diverse than those detailed for the surveyed segment.Table S1: Projected Total Additional ‘Water Sector’ Employees Required by 2018AustralianQualificationsFrameworkCert II Cert III Cert IV DiplomaAdvDiplomaAssociateDegreeVoc GradCertVoc GradDipBachelor Grad Cert Grad Dip Masters DoctorateManagers 1,605EngineerProfessionalsScience/TechnicalProfessionals6,1111,038EngineerParaprofessionalsScience/technologyParaprofessionals2,058314Trades and RelatedWorkers2,449Operators 3,379Business support 2,146 1,953Total 3,379 2,449 4,518 10,707ICE WaRM • National Skills Audit (Phase One) Reportvii
Page 1 and 2: Department of Environment, Water, H
Page 3 and 4: Table of ContentsAcknowledgementsii
Page 5: Executive SummaryBackgroundThe Coun
Page 9 and 10: Executive Summarydemands. These and
Page 11 and 12: 1.2 Terms of ReferenceAppendix B. T
Page 13 and 14: 2 MethodologyThe methodology for th
Page 15 and 16: This section consists of desktop re
Page 17 and 18: Australian Water Directory. This ma
Page 19 and 20: educated at the top levels, but les
Page 21 and 22: members (at all educational levels)
Page 23 and 24: Table 3.5: Australian Government st
Page 25 and 26: priority issues within the educatio
Page 27 and 28: Ages of the employees were recorded
Page 29 and 30: Figure 3.4.1: Workforce demand fore
Page 31 and 32: Table 3.6: Estimated headcount gaps
Page 33 and 34: 3.3 The ‘Non-Urban’ Water Indus
Page 35 and 36: Figure 3.7: Percentage of employees
Page 37 and 38: Age BracketsThe organisations were
Page 39 and 40: Sources of Recently Appointed Staff
Page 41 and 42: Table 3.14: The types of employees
Page 43 and 44: Table 3.15: Preferences of organisa
Page 45 and 46: Table 3.16: Estimated total sampled
Page 47 and 48: Table 3.18: Projected total (non-WS
Page 49 and 50: Table 3.19: Projected total sampled
Page 51 and 52: in these three sectors, with the la
Page 53 and 54: Table 3.23: Qualifications in sewer
Page 55 and 56: Table 3.25 shows the age profile of
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4 Analysis of Results4.1 Combining
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Table 4.4: Projected total addition
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Employment Gaps - Qualifications 20
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Recruiting and Retaining - GeneralW
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4.3 DiscussionA survey response was
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5 Outcomes/Issues5.1 Current Needs
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Figure 5.3: Composition of survey p
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Table 5.4 shows the combined result
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• There is a high demand for civi
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organisations such as CRCs or Inter
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6 Next StepsThe first phase of this
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ReferencesAttikiouzel Y 2008, ‘Li
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Water Industry Capacity Development
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Appendix ATerms of ReferenceICE WaR
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2. Lodgement Details2.1 Quotes shou
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PART A STATEMENT OF REQUIREMENT (Se
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• includes an executive summary o
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Appendix BProject organisation char
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Appendix CJob Family Description Jo
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National Water Skills Audit - Australian Water Association

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