We want to understand the skills needs of food and fibre industries over the longer term, and what vocational education and training is required to support their aspirations. We also want to be able to look at how different scenarios for each industry will affect the amount of training required.
There is a lack of existing tools or modelling to track how different policies or scenarios might affect the workforce over a long-term period.
The skills forecasting project will deliver a forecasting tool that allows us to track projected changes in the workforces across food and fibre industries, and their skills and training needs, over a 50-year period.
The underpinning tool will be an agent-based microsimulation model. It will be calibrated to actual data on the food and fibre workforce and the qualifications they hold. Effectively, it will provide a month-by-month model of the food and fibre workforce.
The model will be adjustable, allowing users to test different scenarios, questions and assumptions. We will provide a public interface for use by industry, providers, government agencies and others with an interest in the food and fibre sector to explore a range of scenarios. The underlying model will also be available for collaborators to work with us on building and testing out new scenarios.
Key Milestones and timeline
- September – December 2023 - Scoping and model outline
- January - June 2024 - Prototype model development
- July - October 2024 - Model quality assurance and refinement
- November - January 2025 Internal stakeholder testing
- February – March 2025 – Industry stakeholder testing and new scenarios capture
- TBC – Launch
Latest update
We will be undertaking series of engagements with industry from February 2025 to take them through the model and work with them to capture their requirements for scenarios we could develop to meet their strategic needs.