Let’s close the skill gap

THERE has been considerable debate about essential workers from interstate being granted permission to work in Tasmania. The state government came under fire after it was revealed interstate construction workers were granted permission to enter Tasmania to finish the Crowne Plaza hotel.

In that instance, there was concern about the way in which those workers were granted permission to work here after it was revealed Tim Baker, Will Hodgman’s former chief of staff and current Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment secretary, had helped with the approval process.

The Mercury reported that smelter company Nyrstar was trying to bring 70 mainland workers to its site. The company later reduced that number to four and confirmed none of the workers would be brought in from Victoria.

We also reported that three Victorians and one person from the US were among 70 specialist workers granted exemptions to work in Tasmania in the past week.

When granted approval these workers are able to move around the community without being tested.

Readers have expressed their astonishment and anxiety at the system.

They’re worried about any potential public health ramifications and confused about the process being transparent and fair.

Their immediate concerns are fair given how quickly we’ve seen coronavirus spread in Victoria — which yesterday recorded 532 new cases of COVID19 and six deaths.

But there is another issue related to the prolific use of out-of-state workers that should leave us all troubled.

Why are companies bringing in interstate workers? What is the government doing to deter this practice? Why do we have so many skills gaps in our Tasmanian workforce?

With our tourism and hospitality industries on life support and uncertainty surrounding when we will be able to safely open our borders to the rest of Australia and indeed the rest of the world, the government’s JobKeeper benefits are masking the employment crisis we will eventually be forced to face.

Premier Peter Gutwein last month announced a $3.1bn building blitz to try to inject life into our economy post COVID-19. An aggressive infrastructure program will certainly help but only if we have a workforce skilled enough to make the most of it.

If border restrictions are to continue, now is the time to get parochial about our workforce and it’s also the time to get serious about matching jobs and skills.

What industries will lead us out of the postcoronavirus economic slump and what are we doing to prepare our workforce for that?

Writing in The Australian on Monday, Jennifer Westacott, the chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, says by Christmas 1.2 million people will be without a job. She says we risk seeing school leavers and graduates struggling to start a career and we can’t afford to make the mistakes of the last recession where many of those over 55 who lost their jobs never found work again.

We need to audit employment opportunities and ensure we are providing the right sort of training to suit what the economy will need.

Training and reskilling people takes time so we need to move fast.

Responsibility for all editorial comment is taken by the Editor, Jenna Cairney, Level 1, 2 Salamanca Square, Hobart, TAS, 7000