The Tourism, Travel and Hospitality IRC’s 2019 Skills Forecast identifies four key priority soft skills for the industry, and acknowledges that although technical skills are imperative to performing job tasks, the following soft skills are what employers will be looking for above and beyond technical skills:
- Teamwork and communication
- Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility
- Problem solving
- Self-management.
In addition to the above key priority skills, the following generic skills were identified as most important to the industry:
- Communication/Collaboration including virtual collaboration/Social intelligence
- Customer service/Marketing
- Learning agility/Information literacy/Intellectual autonomy and self-management
- Managerial/Leadership
- Language, Literacy and Numeracy (LLN).
Several challenges currently face the industry as it tries to meet a growing demand for skilled workers, while also achieving growth and success into the future. The significant challenges being experienced in accessing and retaining skilled workers include a decline in enrolments in relevant VET qualifications, graduates not possessing key skills, and reported skills and knowledge shortages in communication, teamwork and problem-solving. The challenges associated with attracting and retaining an appropriately skilled workforce in the Tourism industry are further exacerbated by the nature of the industry being predominantly made up of small businesses, and having a highly casual and seasonal workforce, as identified in the Tourism, Education and Training report.
Further compounding the industry challenges in recruiting and retaining skilled workers, are recent changes to visa 457 legislation which has created additional pressures for employers when trying to access workers. The Tourism, Travel and Hospitality IRC’s 2019 Skills Forecast also suggests that employers have not been able to fill job roles due to a lack of applicants, and the skills and knowledge-base of applicants and entrants to the industry were also lacking in the key areas of communication, teamwork, problem solving, business skills, online and social media, and general product and service content.
In an attempt to address workforce skills issues, the Tourism, Travel and Hospitality IRC’s 2019 Skills Forecast proposed an update to specific qualifications and skills sets within the training package. Please see the Tourism, Travel and Hospitality IRC’s 2019 Skills Forecast for the full list of qualifications and skill sets being reviewed for updates.