The HVAC&R industry's skills crisis and lack of visibility were the hot button topics at the ARBS 2022 Chairman's lunch yesterday, where panellists Grace Foo, Steve Smith, Ura Sarfejoo and Robert Beggs weighed in with their expert insights and possible solutions. The discussion was ably led panel moderator and ARBS chair, Prof Tony Arnel.
The ARBS Chairman's lunch was well attended, with industry professionals welcoming the opportunity to network and engage in important discourse on issues impacting the future of the HVAC&R industry.
In his opening remarks, Tony Arnel set the context and spelled out in no uncertain terms the challenges ahead for the HVAC&R sector.
Arnel described the pandemic years as a transformative time, and a period which has brought into focus the importance of the HVAC&R industry. Environmental policy and health and well being have emerged as the highest priority for businesses and individuals alike, he said, citing a recent PwC report that found 72 per cent of Australian employees now value health and wellness above all other workplace benefits, including remuneration.
"Our industry sits at the intersection of many trends that are reshaping the world. And yet, despite being central to the future of our nation, and indeed our planet, the HVAC&R sector remains hidden from view... collectively we have to do a lot more to bring this industry into the spotlight," Arnel said..
"As we all know as well, very alarmingly, we face a massive skills shortage at a time when we need more, not less talent across the economy.
"Almost a third of Australian businesses are struggling to hire the right skills... but the HVAC&R sector's situation is even more challenging. Skills for our sector are in the shortest supply of any job category. We cannot hire our way out of this problem. We need to work together to find fresh ways of attracting and retaining talent."
How this challenge could possibly be addressed formed part of the ensuing discussion by the panel of industry leaders.
Steve Smith, an airconditioning and refrigeration technician with 35 years' teaching experience at TAFE NSW highlighted the problem of the shrinking pool of technicians finishing their courses with full qualifications. Last year, that number was as low as 900. He said that part of the problem for a high drop-out incidence is the low entry level standard for the courses, and in fact the subject matter is quite advanced. He said this needs to be made clearer to candidates from the outset.
Grace Foo, principal consultant at DeltaQ and a key contributor to government policy, and an expert in energy efficiency, drew the audience's attention to the challenges faced by women trying to forge a career in the HVAC&R sector.
She stressed the importance of a support structure for women who work in the building services sector, noting that capable women are being pushed out of the industry due to unequal remuneration and a lack of support and recognition. She suggested we look to the sustainability sector as an example of an industry that has made progress in empowering women and giving them a voice at the management or board room table.
Robert Beggs, managing director at Temperzone, an industry verteran, specialist in the field of air conditioning and safety standards, and an active member of several industry associations, made the point that the education system is not keeping pace with the pace of technology evolution in the trade.
Beggs said that to some extent the onus of responsibility has fallen on the manufacturers and suppliers of equipment, and companies like Temperzone
are working hard to train its people to ensure they're up to speed and able to maintian and repair products, making up for what's missing in the education system.
He also highlighted the need to find ways to attract young people into the trade, and noted that when benchmarking salaries recently he discovered that in one of the most widely read industry sources for salary benchmarking, refrigeration did not even exist as a category.
Beggs said the visibility of the industry as a potential career path is very low and that makes attracting talent "very, very challenging".
Ura Sarfejoo, leader for digital solutions and sustainable infrastructure for Johnson Controls ANZ, who has worked in the HVAC&R industry for over 20 years and has been an AIRAH board director since 2019, made a compelling argument for increasing diversity as a solution to the talent shortage.
"We need to make our industry more attractive to women, and it's not about making it 'cool and sexy' -- if you're looking for
that you've come to the wrong place. We need to look at the talent base out there and work out how we can bring them into the industry and make them want to stay and be proud of it."
She also referred to the challenge of the lack of visibility of the industry, noting that STEM graduates are almost entirely unaware of HVAC&R as a possible career path. Once informed about the scope of the exciting projects in the industry, their interest is piqued, but it's up to the industry to go out there and raise awareness of HVAC&R as an exciting career path for girls and boys, not only secondary and tertiary education level, but to start younger at primary school levels too.
"We've got a generation that is looking for career purpose," she said. "When these young people walk onto the job, diversity, inclusion and social impact are priorities from day one."
"We need to shift our values, adapt, embrace significant change so we can welcome this new generation to our workplace."