Digital skills necessary in tough world
FINDING new job avenues in Cairns is going to be difficult if training providers can’t keep up with changing technology.
Experts say Cairns’ nature as a tourist hotspot makes it difficult to retain a consistent workforce, but at the same time, a transient population makes for a start-up hotspot.
Cairns enVizion group is running courses in digital literacy skills, coding, robotics and STEM programs.
Much of enVizion’s learner base consists of second-language students, people from Cape communities and people with disabilities.
enVizion CEO Julie-Ann Lambourne said most of their programs provided a scaffolding of basic literacy, numeracy and life skills such as resumebuilding.
“Foundation skills are important, especially if English is a second language,” she said.
“From there, we lead on to an accredited training component and courses such as hospitality do up to 100 hours of industry placements to get them work-ready.”
One innovation being used by the provider to assist with learning is virtual reality.
enVizion uses VR headsets in training to let students experience a simulated working environment such as a farm, a kitchen or a mine.
They send the headsets out to remote communities on a “virtual reality bus”.
Federal opposition employment services spokesman Ed Husic, who visited enVizion Group yesterday as part of a tour of the city’s training providers, said Labor would reinvest in training providers to tackle skill shortages.
“As much as you have people coming and going, you’re still going to have a local population that you’ve got to get ready,” he said.
“Tourism and agriculture are big industries in Cairns and tech is changing those industries. It’s going to require different skills down the track.”
Leichhardt Labor candidate Elida Faith, who accompanied Mr Husic on his visit, said Cairns needed investment in training programs to tackle youth unemployment.
“Assisting disadvantaged, helping reskilling industries, these are all crucial services that training providers help with,” she said.