Publications - April 2010

Manufacturing Skills Australia’s (MSA’s) Environmental Scan 2010 aims to capture the stories and experiences of manufacturing and automotive enterprises over 2009 and give insights into the industry’s priorities for 2010. It is designed to provide anecdotal, qualitative information to inform industry and government workforce development policies and initiatives. While it considers research findings of some of industry’s key stakeholders, it is not intended to replicate statistical research. Rather, MSA’s Environmental Scan should be received as an ongoing story, building upon and updating previous Environmental Scan documents and bringing together information gathered during 2009 from a variety of sources including surveys, interviews, site visits, feedback and the continual  conversations with those working within manufacturing and automotive industries.

 Twelve months ago, manufacturers and retailers were tightening belts and bracing for the inevitable impact of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), yet another serious challenge for an already embattled industry. Job losses and plant closures were beginning to hit the headlines and enterprises were looking to multiple strategies to help navigate the storm. Survival was the key focus – not just for individual enterprises, but for industry in Australia as a whole, and skills and capability retention was a major driver of many of the strategies that industry adopted.

Turning into 2010, the business climate is beginning to gain some optimism, and there are clear signs that some of those strategies have been working. But the manufacturing and automotive industries are still walking a tight rope to solid ground and most believe we

are still at a critical stage in ensuring that Australia remains 'a country which makes things’.