Not only do employers in the tourism and hospitality sector in Australia rely heavily on international tourists as customers to survive, but a large part of the workforce in this industry was also made up of international students or backpackers who are no longer here on working holiday visas. This is a problem for all Australians now, not just visa holders, regional areas, and employers. If it’s not addressed now, even if the borders open tomorrow the Australian economy will have to postpone its recovery if it doesn’t have enough people to operate.
It is often said there is no such thing as a stupid question. However, as people don’t know what they don’t know, stupid answers do exist. For the smallest and most protected segment of the VET sector in Australia, Registered Training Organisations (RTOs), it may seem like a stupid answer that it couldn’t get any worse. But the fact is, the RMS TAEtanic hit an iceberg 2 years ago that has sealed the fate. For many RTOs and consultants in the training industry who are still placing a bet that the RMS TAEtanic won’t sink, it could get worse, if it does sink (more so when). But it is not all bad news for RTOs, the formal VET sector has been primed for a hostile takeover of the segment by L&D and informal learning providers (business consultants etc…) for a while now…