Industry insights on skills needs
The Technicians Support Services IRC's Skills Forecast – 2020 update (hereafter 2020 Annual Update) identified the top five short-to-medium term skills considered important across the workforce supported by the Technicians Support Services Training Package as communication, capacity to learn, emotional intelligence, flexibility, and resilience or stress tolerance.
According to the Medical Technicians job vacancy data, the top requested skills by employers were communication skills and detail orientated. The most advertised positions were Laboratory Technician, followed by Laboratory Assistant. The top employers were the New South Wales Government and the Government of Victoria.
The 2020 Annual Update reports that the wide range of health care and social assistance roles across the sector have been impacted by COVID-19 in different ways (further information below). The other main challenges Technicians Support Services workforce face are advances in technology, access to skilled workers with practical experience and the lack of career progression.
Advances in technology
New technology is continually being introduced into practice reports the 2020 Annual Update, requiring the ability to learn and operate new equipment and adopt new procedures. In the health sector, the focus on the quality of service and customer experience has increased. Further, technology can help reduce the invasiveness of various procedures. New technology can change the equipment used in health assessments, health administration, as well as the devices people use to monitor their own health. Further, the transition to a national digital health care platform, My Health Record, requires knowledge on how to access and update patient records. Digital skills and knowledge are becoming increasingly important in Technicians Support Services sector job roles.
Advances in technology in hospital pharmacies to maximise the benefits offered through electronic systems and telehealth is considered in the Pharmacy Forecast Australia 2021.
Staff shortages
Some employers report they are experiencing difficulties in hiring skilled staff due to a shortage of skilled workers, limited applicants, a lack of existing workers with appropriate skills and an unwillingness to work nights, weekends or shifts. Evidence of shortages of certain skilled workers, such as anaesthetic technician, cardiac technician and medical laboratory technician, can be seen in the listing of these job roles as Skilled Occupations by the Australian Government. This enables an appropriately skilled person to migrate to Australia through the nominated skilled visa.
The need for new workers to have relevant technical skills and knowledge continues to be a challenge, and a lack of placement opportunities and resources to enable student supervision make it difficult for student to gain the practical experience required to complete a qualification and take up a job role. In regional and rural areas, the opportunities to gain on-the-job experience required adds further challenges to completing a qualification.
Further, the 2020 Annual Update reports the shortage of skilled workers in the sector is also due to an ageing workforce with a significant number of worker moving into retirement, reducing the number of workers with required skills, knowledge and experience. Further, this also impacts on the number of experienced workers available to share their knowledge with new entrants to the sector and job roles.
Lack of career progression
Across the Technicians Support Services workforce, the lack of career progression and retention of staff continue to be areas of concern. Access to training that is linked to clear career pathways will be beneficial to ensure assistants and technicians are provided with opportunities to enhance their skills and grow within the sector. This is an area currently being reviewed as part of the Technicians Support Services Training Package; see the suite of project in the 2020 Annual Update. The investment and development of pharmacy technical workforce is a recommendation of the Pharmacy Forecast Australia 2021.
