Jobs of the Future

The Commissioner introduced the audience to global workforce megatrends, which will see a move away from manual labour and jobs requiring more physical work, to those that will require a higher level of cognitive skills and education.

The Commissioner stated that our greatest workforce challenge is helping current and future generations gain the skills they need to enter, or transition, into these emerging fields. Studies indicate the human skills future jobs are most likely to require will be: cognitive digital personal/self-development leadership adaptability collaboration analytical As a result, it’s predicted that within the next 5 years at least 9 out of 10 jobs will require a post-secondary qualification, with healthcare being the dominant employer in both regional and metropolitan areas.

It is therefore critical to ensure our regions have access to higher-level education to not only future-proof our future workforce by providing the skills and education they need, but also ensuring regional areas remain an attractive and feasible locations for people to live and work.