Building an AI-enabled workforce: a national strategic imperative
26 March 2025
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is set to revolutionise our economy, potentially driving up to $115 billion in economic value for Australia by 2030. But to truly harness AI's potential, we must tackle the urgent need to upskill our workforce.
Future Skills Organisation’s latest report, undertaken with Mandala, reveals that AI adoption among finance, technology and business organisations in Australia is low.
43% of organisations and a third of workers in finance, tech, and business are not using AI at work. The main barriers? A lack of trust and limited access to training.
Our findings show that younger employees are more inclined to adopt AI to enhance their work practices, while older workers tend to underutilise the technology. The impact is a loss of productivity across the economy and for individuals.
Small and medium-sized businesses are also less likely to adopt AI compared to larger organisations, putting them at a higher risk of economic disadvantage.
Australian workers are eager to learn
Finance, tech and business workers recognise the importance of AI. More than half of these workers believe AI will be important in the near-future, and over two-thirds want to use it more. Additionally, 86% of workers want more AI training.
Workers want to learn about AI fundamentals, practical implementation, and AI ethics, security, and best practices.
AI has the potential to transform the workplace, but without proper training, employees and organisations can't fully reap its benefits.
The opportunity for vocational education and training
To unlock AI's full impact, we must invest in training to equip the workforce with essential skills. Initiatives like the National AI Capability Plan emphasise the importance of boosting AI skills and training.
The roadmap outlined in our report emphasises the need for both short-term and long-term training solutions to overcome these barriers.
With its industry-led approach, a network of around 4,000 registered training providers, and a community of 5 million learners annually, the vocational education and training (VET) sector is uniquely positioned to deliver quality solutions at scale.
Future Skills Organisation will be supporting AI adoption across Australian businesses by partnering with the VET sector to quickly develop accessible AI training resources.
We’re excited about the role that the VET sector can play in building an AI-ready workforce for the future.
By Michelle Circelli, Research + Insights Lead, Future Skills Organisation
Published in Future Skills News, FSO’s LinkedIn newsletter here.