Campus Review Vol 30. Issue 01 | January 2020 | Page 18

industry & research campusreview.com.au Softly softly White paper finds soft skills key to boosting personal wage growth. By Wade Zaglas S o, you’ve gained that important piece of paper from a formal institution such as a university or VET provider, or perhaps you’ve decided to go on to further your studies in a master’s program. You’re highly educated, but your wage just doesn’t seem to be heading north. That’s the situation facing many Australians at the moment as the country languishes in one of the longest periods of wage stagnation on record. But according to a white paper entitled Premium Skills, it will be soft or ‘human’ skills that will drive wage growth in the near future, not necessarily the number of degrees you have hanging on your wall. The growing need for skills in customer service, digital literacy and time management mean that Australians who develop soft or human skills could see their income grow considerably in the future. The paper, by Deloitte Access Economics, concludes that by 2030 two- thirds of Australian jobs will be “soft-skill intensive”, with 96 per cent of all jobs requiring skills in customer service, time management and organisational expertise. Workplace learning specialists DeakinCo engaged Deloitte to “examine the link 16 between human skills and wages” in order to get a better picture of their relevance in the future. The study identifies five core industries that will be severely affected by shortages in soft or human skills by 2030: government services, education, construction, health and professional services. The paper also highlights how Australian businesses are underspending on formal training and spending more on recruitment ($4.5 billion annually compared with $7 billion), and failing to future‑proof their workforce by ignoring the importance of investing in human skills. “People are critical to the success of businesses, yet many businesses are focused on technology without thinking about talent,” says Deloitte Access Economics partner and report co-author David Rumbens. “In the current low wage growth environment, improving the level of human skills applied in the workforce could help to shift the dial.” Although roughly a third of Australian workers hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, businesses are citing shortages in soft skills as a key barrier to business success. Accordingly, the white paper argues that human skills are quickly becoming the “real currency” for success in the workplace. The study found that businesses that invest in developing soft skills among staff are building a “premium workforce that will help future-proof productivity”. Also, for every 10 percentage point improvement in soft skills such as communication, teamwork and critical thinking, Australian workers are receiving a 5 per cent rise in wages. However, because these soft skills are difficult to quantify, many businesses are choosing to “buy the skills required” rather than putting their energy into upskilling their existing teams. “Our white paper shows that businesses are failing to upskill and train existing employees, but instead try to fill that skills gap via external sources,” DeakinCo CEO Glenn Campbell says. “It’s an unnerving trend, as we anticipate the skills gap will broaden by 2030, with two-thirds of jobs in Australia to be focused on soft skills. In essence, human skills, complementing academic qualifications, will be the secret to work success in the future.” The paper concludes by urging Australian business to balance recruitment and training costs to “future-proof the economy”. “In order to propel the Australian economy forward and raise the average household income,” Campbell says, “investment has to be spent in upskilling the current Australian workforce with soft skills, as well as providing support in education to those looking to enter it.”  ■