Job markets around the world are in a state of flux. Occupations, and the skills needed to do them are changing so fast that employees need to continuously re-skill and up-skill in order to stay relevant.
Then there’s COVID-19. Between March and June this year, 835,000 Australians have lost their jobs. And the economic impacts of the pandemic are far from over. History shows that many jobs lost in big downturns never reappear, while a survey by ING Bank (opens an external site) has found that 1 in 3 Australians are looking to change jobs once the virus subsides.
Building Australia’s technology talent
UTS is supporting Australia’s response and resilience to these challenges by offering innovative forms of teaching and learning, where it’s needed most. For example, we've teamed with Telstra to deliver an innovative enterprise learning offering; three eight-week microcredential courses to address an anticipated shortfall of 60,000 information and communication technology workers in Australia in coming years.
Over 80 Telstra employees are taking part in the first cohort, studying online courses on data analysis, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
In offering microcredentials for the first time, UTS looks forward to helping to boost skill levels in the broader technology community and providing Australian business with expanded pools of talented workers in critical areas.
- Glenn Wightwick, UTS Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Vice-President (Innovation & Enterprise).
The partnership, part of our Learning for a Lifetime UTS 2027 strategic initiative, offers a flexible, real-world and personalised learning experience that builds on existing work between UTS and Telstra to help build Australia’s technology talent. It also aligns with the Federal Government’s push for microcredentials to play a part in COVID-19 recovery efforts by helping struggling industries and those who have lost their jobs reskill for new ones.
So, what exactly is enterprise learning?
Enterprise learning brings UTS's expertise in teaching and learning to organisations, helping them to understand their workforce's skills at an organisational, team and individual level, and then developing pathways to reskill and assess their learning outcomes.
And microcredentials?
Microcredentials, the newest way of certifying skills in a specific study area, allow you to upskill or retrain within a specific study area without the commitment or cost of a traditional degree. Unlike some other microcredentials available in the market, and in contrast to short course qualifications, UTS microcredentials come with a credit point allocation. That means if you enrol in a UTS postgraduate degree after successfully completing a microcredential course, you could be eligible for credit recognition.
While our latest microcredentials have been developed in conjunction with Telstra, they are industry and organisation agnostic, which means they can be made available to other organisations and individuals in the coming months, through UTS Open.
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