Experts warn that work needs to start in the country’s classrooms now if Australia is to have enough blue-collar workers to sustain this century’s economy.
A report released Wednesday by think tank Per Capita’s Centre for New Industry found Australia will need nearly 100,000 additional skilled electrical workers by 2050.
But there are not enough classrooms or trainers to train the electrical workforce of the future, with schools stretched to capacity and an unprecedented labor shortage.
The projected shortfall threatens basic energy security and jeopardizes Australia’s climate commitments, according to the Charged Up report commissioned by the Electrical Workers Union.
“We’re not doing a terrible job, we’ve got 170,000 electricians at the moment, we’ve got a skilled workforce,” said ETU national secretary Michael Wright.
But Australia was not ready for electrification and net-zero emissions construction alongside demands for more housing and defence programs, he told AAP.
“This is not a normal situation. This is not just a radical change, but a generational change,” Wright said.
The federal government’s $22.7 billion Future Made in Australia plan also relies on more electricians, but apprentices are already waiting 18 months to get into a classroom.
Billionaire businessman Dick Smith is encouraging young Australians to consider studying a trade rather than studying at university. Above, with his wife Pip
Women represent only two percent of skilled workers in the sector (archive image)
Meanwhile, in the renewable energy sector, there is a situation of “burn and churn” and large energy companies are not investing in apprentices,” he said.
“We see in particular that solar takes away more than it gives in terms of training… massive employment of backpackers who are there to have a good time, not for a long season.”
Expanding renewable energy production beyond domestic needs will require an additional 42,500 electricians this decade.
But almost half of Australia’s electrical apprentices are already failing to complete their training due to low pay, lack of mentoring and bullying in toxic workplaces, the report found.
“Ordering workers is not the same as ordering solar panels… it requires that human dimension,” Wright said.
Young women in particular need safer workplaces, including adequate protective equipment and separate toilets with sanitary bins.
It is a “shame” that women only make up two percent of skilled workers in the sector, she said.
The country also cannot rely solely on immigration, he said, as all advanced economies will be looking for skilled workers to install clean energy, battery supply chains and other advanced technologies.
Emma Dawson, director of Per Capita, said workforce readiness was a critical but neglected part of the energy transition.
“Australia can become a renewable energy superpower, but we need the workforce to make it happen,” he said.
The report recommended an urgent response, including a requirement that projects receiving taxpayer funding recruit apprentices and benefit local communities.
A new Clean Energy Jobs Commissioner role could ensure the clean energy transition creates secure, well-paid jobs by working with industry, unions and governments.
Australia will need almost 100,000 more skilled electrical workers by 2050, according to a new report
Renewable energy professionals were urged into classrooms to impart crucial skills, alongside increased investment in TAFEs and industry-led programmes.
Otherwise, regions, new entrants to the workforce, and existing workers could be left behind while other nations prosper.
Billionaire businessman Dick Smith is encouraging young Australians to consider learning a trade instead of studying at university.
The businessman said Australia needed more skilled workers as record population growth, fuelled by immigration, put further pressure on the housing crisis.
“A trader can make very good money, especially if they open their own business,” Smith told Daily Mail Australia.
‘My local electrician is a millionaire and has done very well for himself. So, for me, a tradesman who starts his own business can be very successful in Australia.
‘I think there is a greater chance for a person with a vocational education to open their own business and employ their own people than for someone with an arts degree.’
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