Industry reskilling for economy’s needs

Industry reskilling for economy’s needs

4 July 2006

Industry Training Organisations (ITOs) have a significant and growing role to play in facilitating and influencing tertiary education and training for their industries. In order to better understand the direction of Industry Training, the Industry Training Federation (ITF) has prepared an analysis of ITO 2006-08 profiles, available from www.itf.org.nz.

“This is the first time that an analysis of profiles across ITOs has been published”, said Darel Hall Executive Director of the Industry Training Federation. “It shows that Industry Training Organisations continue to change to meet industry skill needs. This analysis will be useful for anyone who wants to get a general overview of Industry Training”

Industry Demand and ITO leadership

The majority of ITOs continue to grow, exploring ways of increasing their level of reach in their industries (and in new industries) and improving and expanding their services.

The majority of ITO profiles are responding to increasing demand for training in their industries, either in response to economic and job growth or for reskilling of the existing workforce in response to the changing nature of work. Industries are increasingly aware that 80% of the workforce in ten years time is the current workforce and are planning accordingly.

ITOs illustrated their in-depth understanding of the factors that could impact on the future of their industries as part of the ITO leadership role. The majority of ITOs were in the process of formalising their understanding of skill demand and supply in their industry, and developing strategies to respond to these demands. A number already had leadership initiatives in place. Research was an important part of leadership for many ITOs.

Collaboration and adapting to change

ITOs show increasing sophistication in their collaborative activities with other ITOs and Tertiary Education Providers (TEPs). ITOs are also taking a more active interest in the wider education response to industry skill needs. There is substantive work on ensuring secondary education, pre-employment and higher education meets the needs of their industries. Improving the performance and responsiveness of their services is an ongoing concern for ITOs, and part of this relates to responding to the increasing complexity of work. ITOs are developing processes for ensuring specific groups access, achieve and progress, and for continually improving qualifications and the quality of learning.

ENDS

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