Rail Skills & Career Council targets shrinking workforce

By Tania Davies

The rail organisations that will deliver these plans all have one thing in common; the only way we can deliver is through our people, the rail workforce.
The pool of skilled, experienced people that make up this workforce is shrinking, especially in high demand, rail specific areas such as engineering, technical and the trades.
Unfortunately, the rail industry is experiencing pressure from both sides of the demand versus supply equation. These pressures include: significant rail infrastructure investment; increasing demand for services and increased customer expectations; changes to technology demand pressures from other industries; global skills shortages; an ageing workforce; and attraction and industry image issues.
Unaddressed, the combination of these factors will impact on the rail industry’s ability to deliver on the future transport task.
In response to these issues, the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) has established the Rail Skills & Career Council who have commissioned two reports to research and report on workforce issues: the Changing Face of Rail and most recently, in conjunction with the Department of Education, Employment & Workplace Relations, the Rail Revolution Report.
The Rail Revolution Report outlined nine key strategic priorities for the industry to develop the future rail workforce. These strategies are:
.Collecting valid workforce planning information;
.Attraction and industry image to increase the pool of workers attracted to the industry;
.Position culture and employee engagement strategies to ensure the retention of skilled staff for the future;
.Building new employment and training career pathways;
.Ensure a consistent industry approach to skills development;
.Retain experienced staff and the knowledge they hold through effective succession planning and knowledge management;
.Introduction of innovative and flexible work practices;
.Establish more effective arrangements for immigration and overseas qualifications recognition;
.Conduct regular industry communication and collaboration forums regarding workforce risks and strategies
These solutions need to be considered together, not independently, so by establishing a systematic, co-ordinated industry approach, and working collaboratively with industry experts and organisations such as the CRC for Rail Innovation and the Transport and Logistics Industry Skills Council, the Rail Skills & Career Council has been progressively working on a wide range of activities and projects for each of these strategic priorities.
These activities are enabling the industry to develop a consolidated response to the workforce issues affecting rail.

Tania Davies is the ARA's manager rail careers and the CRC for Rail Innovation's program chair of its education and training program. Prior to this, Tania held a number of senior management roles in RailCorp. During her career, Tania has worked in a number of management, HR and training roles in the private and public sector.

To find out more about the Rail Skills & Career Council and the workforce projects and initiatives visit: www.ara.net.au/site/careers.php
And: www.railcareers.net.au