Despite wide publicity and common usage, the concept of skills shortage has different meaning to different people depending on their perspective. Understanding the different concepts of skills shortages, their measurement and the causes of skill shortages is important if sound policies are to be developed in the areas of employment, education,…

This report focuses on use of large-scale economy-wide models in Australia for occupational forecasting and their use in the vocational education and training (VET) sector for making decisions about training profiles across occupational areas. Section 2 reviews objectives of VET policy as defined in the legislation and Australian National Training…

Migration patterns to and from Australia are becoming complex with migration programmes increasingly targeted towards meeting the needs of the labour market and regional development. This paper provides an analysis of the permanent and temporary movements of people to and from Australia in the last three years and their impact on the skilled…

Manufacturing in Australia is a large and diverse industry, employing more than 1.1 million people. Despite its decline in relative importance (from providing 16.3% of jobs to providing 13.4%), it is still the second largest employing industry. Manufacturing makes up the major component of exports, accounting for 51 percent in 1994-95. Over the…

Mining is the second smallest industry division in terms both of employment and number of business units in Australia. Employment accounts for less than 1 percent of all jobs. The outlook for employment is clouded by continuing uncertainty in Australia's main Asian markets and by the longer-term impact of environmental concerns. Mining industry…

This paper is concerned with the strategies being adopted for vocational education and training (VET) in Australia and the lessons that could be learned for them from policies in other countries. Six issues are considered in the paper, each relates to or more of the objectives and particular strategies in the Australia's National Strategy for…

Australia's transport and storage industry is a large, diverse sector covering all forms of transport operation, including road, rail, air, and sea, and related services: stevedoring, port operations, customs agencies, and travel agencies. Employment in this industry has not grown as quickly over the last decade as employment in general. Under…

This document contains 19 papers and case studies, in English and Korean, from a conference on national strategies for developing human resources through technical and vocational education and training. The following are representative: "The Need to Innovate and Optimize Resources [Keynote]" (Wataru Iwamoto); "School to Work…

Australia's retailing sector is the largest single industry of employment, with more than 1.2 million workers. It is characterized by high levels of part-time and casual employment; a young work force, including many young people still in full-time education; and employment widely distributed geographically. Over the past 10 years, employment has…

This document contains the following seven papers, all in both English and Korean, from a conference on human resources development and school-to-work transitions in the knowledge-based society: "The U.S. Experience as a Knowledge-based Economy in Transition and Its Impact on Industrial and Employment Structures" (Eric Im); "Changes…

Australia's personal and other services industry is the sixth smallest of the 17 industry divisions in numbers employed. The industry, a collection of quite diverse businesses and services in the public and private sectors, has three subdivisions: personal services, other services, and private households employing staff. The employment level has…

Australia's property and business services industry is its third largest industry and has been the fastest growing industry over the last 10 years. The industry is composed of a diverse range of activities, including real estate sales, legal and accountancy practices, employment placement services, labor and equipment hire, scientific and market…

The demand for and supply of skills in the automotive repairs and service trades in Australia were examined to identify skill shortages in the industry. Special attention was paid to the following items: (1) the industry's demand for skills (employment levels; growth; and prospects); (2) the supply of skills to the industry's existing work force…