Project number: 2009-302
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $98,750.00
Principal Investigator: Samara L. Miller
Organisation: Samara Miller
Project start/end date: 12 Apr 2009 - 29 Jun 2011
Contact:
FRDC

Need

The seafood industry is currently facing significant workforce challenges. The South Australian workforce is ageing and needs to be replaced from a supply of available workers. This potential shortage of workers is compounded by the current situation where the seafood industry is competing with other industry sectors on the basis of potential earning capacity. Some seafood sectors can afford to compete with other industries (such as mining), whilst other sectors are unable to be competitive in the labour market.

Different strategies are needed to attract new people to the seafood industry. The images and marketing strategies to encourage young people to the seafood industry are not prominent, if used at all. People outside the industry struggle to understand the types of employment opportunities that exist in the industry, the skills required for the positions and how to get them.

Traditionally, workers in the seafood industry have not had their skills and knowledge recognised. Generally progression in a company has largely been due to the number of years that a person has been working for the company, and not necessarily how well the person performs the tasks. In addition, employees in the past have not been encouraged to gain skills and knowledge in more than one area within an enterprise. Therefore, the workforce challenge facing many seafood enterprises is upskilling our existing workforce that provides employees with a sense of where they fit in the business and their progression opportuities, as well as increasing the efficiency of the business and therefore profitability by having a more flexible workforce. The industry also needs to recognise that it has to be an attractive option for workers.

This project aims to assist both employees and create a greater level of understanding with seafood employers of how to address workforce challenges.

Objectives

1. To develop career pathways with linked training programs.
2. To develop a process whereby seafood enterprises can use the most up-to-date research outcomes in their company training and operations.
3. To analyse the linking of career pathways, research and training over a season and identify possible improvements.
4. To develop materials that may guide other seafood enterprises through similar workforce issues.

Final report

ISBN: 978-0-646-59578-8
Author: Samara Miller
Final Report • 2013-02-01 • 3.75 MB
2009-302-DLD.pdf

Summary

The Australian seafood industry is currently facing workforce  challenges which are leading to widespread labour market  issues with difficulty in attracting, retaining and upskilling staff. Without new strategies, capacity for the industry to reach its  goals for production and value will not be realised. There are  multiple factors which are contributing to this situation such as  an ageing workforce, departure of experienced mature workers,  increased competition for labour from other industries and the  seasonal and casual nature of employment in the industry. The  lack of skilled workers, a poor education and training culture in the industry and lack of succession planning strategies are also contributing to the workforce issues being felt around the country. This is compounded by a lack of understanding of the training language and system, the breadth of skills needed by workers and sometimes irrelevant and generic training that is delivered that does not fulfil the industry’s training needs. The tuna industry faces many of these pressures and therefore was used as a test case that could be of help to other seafood sectors.

Two areas warranting research were investigated; the development of career pathways that may assist both employees already working in the industry as well as people outside the industry looking for a career, and improving the links between the industry and trainers to provide more relevant upskilling. The lack of clear career pathways on offer and virtually no communication or advertising of career pathways is highlighted. Generic pathways for the seafood industry may assist with changing the perceptions of the general community about careers and jobs by establishing a common ‘language’ and encouraging succession planning within the industry. Understanding the extension and transfer of research outcomes may also identify ways to improve the training experience.

The results showed that although workforce challenges vary between the tuna, mussel, salmonid, prawn and pearl faming sectors, all may benefit from work undertaken to attract, retain and upskill workers. Skills from ten different training packages were used to develop a comprehensive set of proposed qualifications for the 33 job roles identified in the tuna industry. The most relevant and directly applicable units of competency were identified to create a whole of sector approach to careers and training. Each sector reported value in adapting the job roles and job descriptions, career pathways, qualification and skill list and proposed qualifications developed for the tuna industry to their own sector with little change required to provide a common language needed across the industry. Three different career pathways were created for the tuna industry; Fishing & Farming, Processing, and Human Resources & Administration and all were relevant to the other four aquaculture sectors studied Trainers valued the simplicity and visual presentation of the career pathways but reported less value in the job roles and proposed qualifications. Trainers commented that the proposed qualifications were a good starting point in developing training plans for employees. The materials did not assist with the current RPL process nor initiate ideas for the process in the future. However, trainers highlighted the need for more information from industry to provide more effective training and support specialist training providers.

The extension and adoption of research outcomes was surprisingly less challenging for all five seafood sectors interviewed. Extension of research either works well in the mussel, prawn and pearl farming sectors or there are limited research outcomes that can be directly applied to the companies. Specific job roles are identified in the tuna and salmonid sectors that are responsible for ensuring research outcomes are incorporated into training. All sectors expressed concern about whether the training process can currently accommodate rapid changes in industry training needs which highlighted the need for a closer link with trainers.

Trainers reported that sourcing information for training materials is ad hoc and none of the trainers reported regularly accessing research reports or websites. Trainers commented on the usefulness of the fact sheets that were developed. Trainers require more industry specific information to improve the training experience. The identification of job roles within companies with responsibility to update trainers and incorporate research findings across the company, would be beneficial as a point of contact for trainers. The facilitation of opportunities for greater collaboration between industry organisations and local trainers was highlighted.

This project has shown the benefits of developing materials at a whole of sector level that suits industry and that can provide guidance and be applied across other seafood sectors. The importance of considering career pathways has been profiled both within the industry and with trainers. The proposed tuna qualifications has raised the profile of industry demonstrating leadership by directing their own training needs. The research has highlighted opportunities for RTOs and industry groups to work closer together to improve the delivery and effectiveness of training. People outside the industry will also have a clearer understanding of the pathways available.

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PROJECT NUMBER • 2023-088
PROJECT STATUS:
CURRENT

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ORGANISATION:
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC)