The ARA’s General Manager – Workforce Development, Fiona Love, and the workforce team visited Engineers Australia in Melbourne on Wednesday to discuss the importance of engineers in rail and how we can support the ARA’s members with successful onboarding of overseas qualified and experienced engineers into rail organisations.
The ARA will be working with Engineers Australia to support the development of a diverse engineering workforce in rail through participation in several initiatives, including a continued focus on engineering roles on the ARA’s Work in Rail website, participation in joint development programs for newly arrived engineers and working directly with the ARA’s members who are focused on development and retention of skilled migrant engineers.
Recent reports have provided insights into five factors that need consideration to strengthen the engineering workforce in rail and all other industries reliant on engineers. These include:
- School education
- Engineering study
- Retention in the workforce
- Skilled migrant participation, and
- Demand forecasting.
The focus areas for Engineers Australia and the ARA are school education, skilled migrant participation and retention in the workplace. A pilot program is currently underway in Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. Once this has concluded and the results have been analysed, the ARA will share the learnings and develop a pathway, in collaboration with Engineers Australia and the ARA’s members, to understand the benefits and potentially participate in the program.
For more information, contact the ARA’s General Manager – Workforce Development, Fiona Love.