10/08/2015

The Skills Gap Illusion

Title: The Communication and Development Studies Curriculum at Papua New Guinea University of Technology: is it meeting industry requirements?

Lecture delivered at the Second Community Affairs and Business Development Workshop, 10-12 August 2015, Lae International Hotel.


The skills gap illusion

For a long time now, business leaders have been saying that the workforce lacks sufficient skills to fill 21st century jobs. Allegedly, this "skills gap" is holding back not just workers but businesses and the development of the economy.

In our view, there will always some problems finding people for specific jobs in specific industries. For those businesses that are having these problems, to a large degree the solutions are in their own hands. Specifically, they can start training programs, pay competitive wages, work with governments and universities to align programs to their needs, and step in with some extra investment in the educational institutions, where required.