Message from the CEO: The future of skills

If Australia is to successfully maintain a robust, competitive economy and develop the right skills for the future, we must recognise the changes, challenges, and opportunities our current workforces are experiencing and accept that that many of the jobs that are relevant today, will not be in the future. The current thinking is that as much as 40 percent of current roles, affecting approx. five million people, might cease to exist within 10 to 20 years. 

WorldSkills aims to help the young men and women who take part in our regional, national and international competitions become prepared for the inevitable changes they will experience in and out of the workplace. Our ambition is to highlight the pathways available in vocational education and training which will drive our nation’s future economy.

By promoting and building a skills culture it’s clear that WorldSkills encourages people to develop their technical skills to a level of excellence. However we also allow the youth to explore and invent new and innovative ways of completing tasks. But is that, in itself, enough? At WorldSkills we think the future leaders of industry will need to be able to adapt to change!

In addition to consistently improving their technical skills, our competitors receive expert mentorship and a platform to become a champion, which helps them build a suite of core competencies including skills such as teamwork, resilience, and most importantly, flexibility which will be essential for the workforce of the future. Our programs provides choices and access to transferable and adaptive skill sets and creates opportunities to solve tomorrow’s problems today.

We look forward to continuing to work with all of our stakeholders to support the nation’s youth, celebrate excellence, and provide young people with the opportunity to grow.

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