The Queensland Trucking Association (QTA) continues to invest in training and skilling projects, making workforce development a part of its Covid economy recovery plan for the transport and logistics industry.
As Covid continues to challenge the transport and logistics (T&L) sector, the impact is two-fold; on one hand there are workers unable to find employment that match their skills and on the other, employers are struggling to attract appropriately skilled workers for in-demand roles.
Additionally, there is a shift in the job requirements for truck drivers as more technology is used in the driving task and growing safety measures are required in the post-Covid working environment. Face-to-face training has also become a challenge in the past two years.
According to QTA CEO Gary Mahon, these factors are shaping the approach to learning, skilling and career mobility. By developing a T&L Skills Passport, the QTA aims to make skills more visible and opportunities more attainable for people in the transport and logistics sector by having all competencies and qualifications stored in one place.
“To make sure we can meet industry demand in the future, we need to look at sector-specific workforce training and reskilling programs with a new focus,” said Mahon.
“Combined with practical on-the-job instruction, online and flexible short-course training is well suited to our industry, accommodating shift workers as well as our remote and regional workforce.
“Offering this industry first T&L Skills Passport will provide a way to capture on-the-job and flexible short-course training as valuable skill development,” he added.
“It is critical we look at new ways to attract, develop and retain a high-performance and future-job ready workforce,” he said.
The T&L Skills Passport will be released February 7 with participants who completed the free Covid Hygiene Awareness Training being the first recipients of their digital badge via the Credly platform. Digital credentials will also be issued to participants who completed other online courses under the Road Freight Resilience Program.
Using the T&L Skills Passport, participants can share Credly badges and certificates to a range of networks, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter which gives greater visibility of the professional development undertaken by an individual.
The QTA is offering affiliate partnerships with a number of transport and logistics businesses to establish their own verified skills program and digital badges. If you are an employer interested in learning more about this program, email vet@qta.com.au or contact the QTA on 07 3394 4388.
To view other QTA workforce training opportunities, visit: www.futurereadyworkforce.com.au
or www.qta.com.au/projects.