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Future employment and skills focus for new centre

Monday, 20 November 2017

The ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide will establish a new, leading research centre on how the nature of work is changing and what that means for the skills required for employment.

The new Future of Employment and Skills Research Centre will help guide policy directions for the benefit of South ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ and the nation.

"The ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide is deeply committed to supporting the South ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥n community, and our new Future of Employment and Skills Research Centre will be an important element of that work," says the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥'s Interim Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mike Brooks.

"The restructuring of the South ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥n economy is well underway. Prospects for growth are strong in areas such as renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, defence, and the space sector. This is in addition to growth in already-significant sectors like international education, health, aged care and disability support, as well as food and wine.

"The ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide is already a major contributor in all of these areas.

"Our new Future of Employment and Skills Research Centre will complement these strengths, and provide insight into the workforce challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for our state and the nation," he says.

The new centre will be headed by Professor Kostas Mavromaras, who is currently Director of the National Institute of Labour Studies at Flinders ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥. Professor Mavromaras will join the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide in early 2018, and will establish a team of experts in aspects of labour and future skills needs.

To be based in the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥'s Faculty of the Professions, the new Future of Employment and Skills Research Centre will complement the work of other pre-eminent research centres at the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide. These include the South ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥n Centre for Economic Studies, the , the Centre for Global Food and Resources, and the International Centre for Financial Services.

"The combined capability of the new centre alongside our existing expertise will enable the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide to make a greater contribution to meeting the challenges of restructuring the South ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥n economy," says Professor Christopher Findlay, Executive Dean of the Faculty of the Professions.

"With our complementary research centres and skills, and our understanding of the key sectors impacting on the future of South ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥, the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide offers the best possible environment for world-class academic and evidence-based policy research in this field," Professor Findlay says.

Professor Mavromaras says: "I look forward to joining the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ in early 2018, and to working on solutions to current economic and social concerns that affect so many in our community.

"Priority areas include future skills needs in core industries such as defence, health and aged care, the impacts that more globalisation and technological change will have on our workforce, and supporting the transition of the many workers who, like those in the car industry, will be seeking new roles in a fast-changing world," he says.

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