Skills underpin all work. They are the driving elements in all industry and individual enterprise. They are always evolving. However, a cocktail of factors is converging to create an urgency to skills formation and development. Australia has experienced disruption to skills caused by the pandemic creating lumpy, unpredictable and new skill demands. As Australia experiences a strong recovery and employment growth surges in some sectors, long held skill gaps have re-emerged for businesses.

This report frames the Australian skills landscape as one facing much change and in need of urgent attention. It outlines some of the strains on companies, strategies being applied, and connections being made with education and training systems. It offers some model workforce development approaches and includes leading initiatives being taken by companies to meet skills challenges. Finally the report discusses the need for intensified action in key areas not new to many, but seen by Ai Group as insurmountable without new levels of engagement across the broad skill ecosystem.