Published: Jan 24, 2025

How an integrated training platform could upskill the Australian workforce

NCS helped SkillsFuture support millions of Singaporean workers upskill, and a similar solution could support the skills gap here.  

In this article we explore how NCS helped SkillsFuture Singapore build a new platform to help workers to develop and broaden their knowledge and skills – and how projects like this have given NCS Australia the experience and expertise to create similar training solutions to help Australian workers meet evolving needs.

The skills shortage in the Australia sector is well documented with recent figures suggesting 36% of occupations had a skill shortage in a recent year. That’s an increase of 5% from the previous year’s figures. And these issues tend to be even more pronounced in remote and regional areas, because skilled workers are unwilling to move from major cities.  

A lack of available skills also has a significant knock-on effect on the quality of services provided by the public sector. As competition for talent becomes more intense, many government agencies and teams can look to nurture and attract talent in-house, rather than outsourcing roles and responsibilities. 

The skills shortage in numbers 

Based on recent dataⁱ:  

• 50% of occupations in the Technicians and Trade Workers category are in short supply nationally 

• 48% of occupations within the Professionals group are in national shortage – including Health Professionals 

• 47% of businesses reported they have increased their investment in staff training in a recent year. 

It's certainly not that the Australian workforce is lacking in talent – it’s simply not being nurtured to meet new and emerging trends.  

Take tech skills. Australia’s technology workforce is expected to exceed a million soon, yet only 7000 students are graduating each year with IT degrees,ⁱⁱ with the shortage particularly affecting software knowledge – it’s not difficult to identify the long-term issues this disconnect is likely to cause businesses in an ever-evolving technological landscape. 

AI, as usual, is a prime example. This is an area of almost unprecedented growth. It is already having a seismic effect on existing roles, while potentially creating entire new sectors. Yet Australia is falling behind its rivals. A recent report found that 33% of business leaders stated that their workplace is not using AI and has no plans to adopt it.ⁱⁱⁱ And a recent Salesforce report found that a lack of skills in artificial intelligence was hindering the take-up of generative AI to enhance frontline services across the public sector.^iv Although many businesses and public services have already embraced the potential of new technology to automate previously labour intensive tasks, some are missing opportunities to improve service delivery and meet sustainability targets.

The skills shortage isn’t just affecting how Australian businesses capitalise on new trends and address sustainability issues – it’s even posing a risk to the country’s security. Australia has a critical shortage of cyber security professionals, leaving it at heightened risk of suffering hugely damaging data breaches to businesses and government alike.  

The federal government is acutely aware of pressing challenges to ensure future Australian competitiveness and security, as well as to ensure government bodies can harness the power of new technology to deliver services to citizens in more efficient ways. In 2024, the Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) commissioner claimed work was already underway to raise skill levels in the public service – with generative AI and gender equality two of the main areas of focus. 

And a strategy is in place. The government^v intends to take a three-pronged approach to dealing with the shortage of tech workers: Boosting the number of IT graduates, bringing in more skilled workers from overseas and, crucially, reskilling existing workers. It’s on this latter point Australian public sector decision makers might consider looking to Singapore for some ideas and inspiration.

SkillsFuture Singapore

SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) supports millions of Singaporeans in their pursuit of skills mastery. Recognising the critical role of swift data access and insightful analytics in providing Singaporeans with the opportunities to develop their fullest potential throughout life, SSG embarked on a transformative partnership with NCS.  

Over a period of 12 months, NCS migrated the existing data environment and analytics platform from a constrained on-premises legacy system to a scalable cloud-based analytics solution. This allowed SSG to unlock significant cost savings and new potentials in data agility to support the evolving needs of Singaporeans in their upskilling and reskilling journeys.

Discover more about this case study on NCS’ website.

NCS Australia provides services and solutions in consulting, digital, applications and cloud. Our diverse workforce has delivered a wealth of large-scale, mission-critical, and multi-platform projects for governments and businesses nationally. The NCS Australia team is able to draw on experiences and resources from across the region to support public sector clients with delivering services that are personal, timely and secure.