Jobs and skills transition for the Latrobe Valley

The report identifies and describes the benchmark occupations and skill sets of workers in Latrobe Valley power generation sector to inform policy and program level initiatives that will support vulnerable workers into training and employment. The project aims to identify possible opportunities for alternative employment for those workers potentially displaced by a decline in the carbon intensive industries of the Latrobe Valley. It benchmarks occupations and skill sets of workers in carbon intensive industries. The analysis is informed by a political economy of skills acquisition, skills recognition and the transition of skills in a changing world. This approach goes beyond the narrow focus on the 'skills gap', which rests on an assumption that skills will be, and should be, determined by business interests and concerns. An understanding of skill formation and skill transition challenges during structural change in this broader approach includes an understanding of both the specific socio-economic contexts in which skills are embedded and the dynamics that underpin them. The report draws on research writing and policy development that is at the forefront of world developments. Given the complexity of the power generation industry within the Latrobe Valley, a number of methods have been used to collect the quantitative and qualitative data that informs the project. The report draws on the statistical analysis of data, document analysis, literature review, consultation and interviews. The outcomes note the agency of powerful actors--government, employers and trade unions--their competing and vested interests and the ways their interaction shape skill formation and workforce developments. Skill and training requirements, the breadth and depth of training, credentialing and the formal recognition of skills, re-training and transferability of skills, along with remuneration for particular skills, are often deeply contested matters.