Service Skills Australia Welcomes New Government- Industry Training Partnerships in Retail
Service Skills Australia welcomes the Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, The Hon. Julia Gillard’s announcement that the Government will fund half the cost of training for existing workers of two of Australia’s largest retail organisations under the Productivity Places Program.
Service Skills Australia, the Industry Skills Council for the service industries, will work with Woolworths and Westfield to deliver training to existing workers under the program. The announcement is particularly welcome for the retail trade, an industry in which nearly two thirds of workers do not hold post-school qualifications and at a time of economic uncertainty.
“The retail industry is currently experiencing a skills shortage of suitably qualified staff who wish to
pursue a life-long career within the retail industry” CEO Jeanette Allen said.
“The Productivity Places Program will greatly assist both Westfield and Woolworths to retain their existing staff and allow them to move into future management roles”.
“This in turn creates new employment prospects for entry level positions, and will increase the
businesses productivity levels, and increase workforce participation”.
Westfield will have seventy-five employees trained in a Diploma of Retail Management and Woolworths will train a total of 103 employees at Certificate III in Retail and forty-two employees in a Certificate IV in Retail. The retail industry is the largest employing industry in Australia, with more than 1.5 million workers, 15% of the Australian workforce.
Background
Earlier this year, Service Skills Australia (SSA) was offered an opportunity to submit an expression of interest to Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations from interested employers that would be prepared to participate in a pilot program to train existing workers in skill shortages areas under the Productivity Places Program.
SSA in collaboration with their industry partners, made a number of submissions at this time and in late October, SSA received correspondence that confirmed the Commonwealth was prepared to match the employer contribution up to 50% of the cost of training. Formal applications were submitted last month from a range of service sector employers that were interested in training their existing workforce to improve workplace productivity and participation.
Tags: Australia, Industry Skills Council, retail, Service Skills Australia, skills, Training