Tradespeople and technicians in innovation

This chapter provides an introduction to the concept of innovation and demonstrates the central role of the vocationally trained workforce, especially tradespeople and technicians, in the generation and diffusion of innovation in and across firms. This essay uses ABS survey data to establish that the primary form of innovation in Australia is incremental and that tradespeople and technicians are identified by firms as critical to their innovation efforts. It also presents the results of a large-scale survey of the role and contribution of VET-trained workers in Australian R&D laboratories. Despite the fact that tradespeople and technicians comprise around 45% of the business R&D workforce, both in Australia and overseas, this is the first study of its type to be undertaken globally. It demonstrates how this role is largely determined by their formal VET training and, for many, extensive work experience in production prior to entering the R&D workforce. It also identifies a number of constraints to their contribution and suggests changes which could improve the effectiveness of their participation and, arguably, the efficiency of the R&D process