AUSTRALIA is well placed to help older workers keep their skills up to date, according to Stephen Billett from Griffith University

Well developed articulation within and across education sectors suit individuals “career trajectories” and can help mature workers retrain in ways which credit their existing abilities and experience.

But he argues that the vocational education system will need to adapt and provide individual training modules that meet the end for specific knowledge rather than bundle subjects together to meet certification standards for specific occupations.

As skill certification and promotion at work is not always a high priority for older workers training needs to focus on acquiring both specific skills and the capacity to pass them onto other workers.

Professor Billett sets out his response to the expected imminent skill shortage in a collection of essays newly published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research.

According to Professor Billet, discrimination against older, less educated workers is misplaced. “The proposition that older workers per se are not so good or effective at learning new tasks and activities appears to be a fallacy, despite being a commonly held belief among older workers,” he writes.

While he accepts that redressing a society-wide preference for young workers is crucial Billet argues that post school education and training systems must identify what older and less educated workers need to know and how they like to learn.

“The evidence strongly suggests that the majority of workers continue to learn across their working lives in ways that sustain their employability.”

And he suggests the argument younger workers can provide a longer return on investment in training ignores the way older employees are less likely to leave a job.

“Many workplaces that employ older workers strongly endorse their worth, particularly their diligence, reliability, punctuality and their problem solving skills and ability to work with others. What is particularly ironic here is that these are the very qualities which employers frequently request education systems generate in their students.”

Source: The Australian

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