Review and Analysis of the Demand for Skills in the
Solomon Islands Labour Market
Richard Curtain
5 December 2013
richard@curtain-consulting.net.au
Table of contents
Executive summary .................................................................................................................... 3
Why another report on skills in Solomon Islands? .................................................................... 5
Chapter One: Age and employment profile of the population ................................................... 9
Attachment 1 ............................................................................................................................ 17
Chapter Two: Types of skills in demand: cognitive and social ................................................ 22
Chapter Three: Types of skills in demand: technical skills ...................................................... 25
Attachment 3 ............................................................................................................................ 36
Chapter Four: Identifying skill shortages ................................................................................. 37
Attachment 4 ............................................................................................................................ 44
Chapter Five: Identifying the skills gap ................................................................................... 46
Attachment 5 ............................................................................................................................ 55
Chapter Six: Measuring the Skill gap ...................................................................................... 58
Attachment 6 ............................................................................................................................ 65
Chapter Seven: Future skill needs ............................................................................................ 66
Attachment 7 ............................................................................................................................ 70
Chapter Eight: Opportunities in Australian and New Zealand labour markets ........................ 73
Attachment 8 ............................................................................................................................ 80
Chapter Nine: Temporary work in Australia and New Zealand ............................................... 83
Chapter Ten: Current demand for skilled migrants in Australia and New Zealand ................. 87
Chapter Eleven: Recommendations on how to identify skills in demand ................................ 92
Framework for the assessment of skills gaps across countries ................................................ 95
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Executive summary
Context
Solomon Islands, despite its larger population than other Pacific island countries, a small
formal economy with only 43,500 employed in 2009. The demand for skills that meet
international standards of competency in Solomon Islands is shaped by the size and nature of
its formal economy. According to the World Bank’s recent World Development Report on
Jobs, small island nations, especially in the Pacific, are unable to reap the benefits from a
concentration of businesses and skills available to large economies because of their size and
other features.
Remoteness from the main trade routes and the high cost of transport also means they cannot
benefit from being close to high-income markets except through tourism. Employment
opportunities in the formal economy are limited apart from working for government and in
providing basic services. However, the World Bank emphasises that for these countries
outmigration is a major way people can improve their living standards. Also return migration
and overseas communities through remittances can boost business opportunities in the
domestic economy.
Issues covered in report
This report looks at evidence about skill gaps in cognitive and social skills as well as technical
skills. In terms of the latter, the report makes use of detailed 2009 census data on occupations,
industry sector of employment and qualifications to identify skill shortages and skill gaps in
the existing workforce. Particular use is made of data on the occupations of foreign workers to
identify domestic skill shortages. The skills gap in specific occupations is measured by
comparing the share of the domestic workforce with post-school qualifications with the share
of foreign workers with post-school qualifications. Also presented is information from two
employer surveys.
Information on overseas opportunities for employment for Solomon Islanders is another major
focus of this report. This information covers the seasonal work opportunities in New Zealand
and Australia. Opportunities for longer-term work in Australia are identified through a close
look at the types of jobs Solomon Islands residents in Australia have, based on 2011 census
data. Opportunities for skilled work in New Zealand are also highlighted by information on
the occupations of migrants from Solomon Islands approved for skilled migrant entry. Other,
more general information on opportunities for skilled work for Australia and New Zealand are
also presented.
Key findings
The most direct and ‘hard’ measure of domestic skill shortages is a higher proportion of
foreign workers in a specific occupation compared with other occupations. The presence of
foreign workers is solid evidence that the domestic supply of skills training is inadequate
because employers go to considerable expense to import and pay higher wages to these
workers. For the occupations up to the technician & associate professional level, higher
proportions of foreign workers are to be found, in rank order: machine operators &
assemblers, drivers & mobile plant operators, retail & other services managers, physical &
engineering science technicians, and metal machinery & related workers.
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Skill shortage gaps for specific occupations have been identified by reference to the share of
job holders with a post-school qualification in occupations where a post-school qualification
is expected, for example, professional & technician occupations.
A specific measure used of the skills gap in an occupation is the difference between the
proportion of foreign workers in with a post-school qualification and the proportion of
domestic jobholders in that occupation with a post-school qualification. The occupations with
the largest skills gap, based on this measure, are: life science & health professionals,
extraction & building trades workers, and teachers have the next largest skills gap. Other large
skills gaps are evident for retail and other services managers, science and engineering
professionals, and physical & engineering science technicians.
The demand for skills to international standard is also shaped by the wage structure. Evidence
from the 2006 household income and expenditure survey shows that workers with trade
certificates are not paid more than workers without a certificate. Other evidence of shortages
suggests that the demand for trade skills of international standard, especially in the
construction sector, is low. Skills in demand, as shown in higher wages and the number of
foreign workers with post-school qualifications, are more evident for jobs at the professional
and technician skill levels. Nevertheless, the small numbers of jobholders in these occupations
and the nature of the economy means the long-term demand for these skills is likely to be low.
If the supply of skills training is to be tied to employment outcomes, as a demand-driven
training system requires, the domestic job opportunities are relatively few. Job vacancies are
likely to be limited to replacement demand, based on current jobholders reaching retirement
age or the small number who migrate to work overseas. Any expansion of skills training to
international standards in Solomon Islands needs to focus on achieving employment outcomes
in neighbouring high-income labour markets.
Short-term seasonal work in Australia and New Zealand has the potential to provide income
to low-income households and communities. However, the numbers of those taking part have
been low compared with neighbouring countries such as Vanuatu. From the perspective of the
demand for skills training, it is low-skilled work in the sense that the skills can be learned
relatively quickly on the job. Nevertheless, a reputation as productive workers has a high
reward in the form of employer requests for workers to return or for others from their
community to come.
Opportunities for skilled work in Australia and New Zealand are explored through the use of
data from the 2011 Australian census on the occupations of Solomon Islands residents in
Australia. Information on the occupations of skilled migrants from Solomon Islands to New
Zealand is also presented More general information on the types of skill shortages in Australia
and New Zealand is also provided.
The report concludes with recommendations on how to collect and build up a system of
information to identify skills in demand. The recommended approach is a bottom-up, learn by
doing approach based on local needs. This is to ensure that trainer providers and employers at
are the centre of a system of data collection and feedback. The report closes with a framework
showing the types of data and data sources needed to identify skills shortages and skills gaps.
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The mismatch between technical skills demanded by the private sector and those
supplied by the market [in Solomon Islands] is a concern. Having higher
employment numbers alone will not be sufficient to drive the economy; there must
also be high labour productivity. Manpower development plans must not be made
in isolation from the industrial demand for labour ...1
Why another report on skills in Solomon Islands?
This report, commissioned by the AusAID post in Solomon Islands, is a labour market
analysis which focuses on identifying the demand for skills in the Solomon Islands economy.
The terms of reference for the report require that the analysis use available information across
all industry sectors. The outcomes of the study are to include ‘a complete picture of the
Solomon Islands labour market, based on the available research and analysis already
undertaken over a number of years. The study is to identify gaps or areas of growth within the
labour market that would benefit from an increase in skilled workers, and proposed steps to
meet this demand. The study is also to identify gaps in available information where further
labour market research is needed and to propose a methodology for undertaking this work.
Terms of Reference
a. analyse labour market demand, skills gaps and shortages across all industries in the
Solomon Islands;
b. consider international labour markets in countries such as Australia and New Zealand and
the barriers for Solomon Islanders in accessing these markets;
c. to the extent possible, analyse current and planned development activities to extract
projections of the likely demand for skilled and qualified labour in the period 2014 –
2020, and the level and number of qualifications needed to meet the trends identified.
Such trends should be quantified, specified and disaggregated by gender;
d. identify opportunities for women;
e. include annexes providing more detailed break-down of skills gaps and recommended
qualifications;
f. specification, scope and proposed methodology for any further analysis should it be
required;
g. provide a 2-page Executive Summary that highlights key findings; and
h. be submitted in Word format, in plain English that is easily accessible to the non-specialist
reader.
The specific focus of this report is to identify the skill shortages and skill gaps experienced by
employers. Particular attention is given to technical skills, usually associated with post-school
qualifications below degree level. Skill shortages refer to a situation where employers are not
able to recruit people with appropriate skills from the domestic labour market for jobs that
they want to fill. Skills gaps refer to a situation where employers regard their workers as not
sufficiently skilled to do the work required of them.
Speech by Governor Denton Rarawa at launch of the CBSI 2012 Annual Report. Kitano Mendana Hotel, 10
May, 2013, p 3.
1
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Need for this report
Why is a another report necessary? The justification for this report is twofold. Few reports
have looked at the demand side of the labour market in Solomon Islands or have done so in
only a partial way. The focus of most reports has been on the supply of training and plans for
new training arrangements. The second justification for this report is the use for the first time
of detailed 2009 census data on occupations and qualifications to provide a comprehensive
profile of skill shortages and skill gaps, at a level of detail that has not been presented
previously.
How to identify skills needed in the economy
The identification of the demand for skills in an economy has to start with the jobs employers
are willing to fund and the services the self-employed are receiving income to provide. This
information, in its most comprehensive form, is best sourced from a national census.
Benefits of using census data on occupations and qualification
The census has several advantages for assessing the state of the demand for skills. The first is
that it not only covers all the adult population in employment, enabling it to collect data on
small groups in the population who would be missed by a national sample survey. These
groups include those working in small enterprises and foreign workers.
The second benefit of using the census is its use of a systematic way of classifying the job
descriptions into categories of occupations. This means that the census potentially offers the
chance to obtain specific detail on up to over 400 occupations. This level of detail is needed to
understand what skills an economy needs. The data on job descriptions have to be coded at
the base four-digit level so it can be aggregated to broader occupational groupings. However,
for various reasons, census data on occupations are sometimes only made available at the twodigit or one-digit level. In the case of the Solomon Islands 2009 census, occupational data are
only available at the two-digit level, offering detail for up to 43 occupational groups.
These data, together with information about the qualifications of job holders, provide a rich
source of information about the national skills pool. They show changes in the importance and
decline of broad occupational groups over time, and the changing value of qualifications to
employers. Information on occupations and qualifications, based on a standard system of
classifications, also enable comparisons to be made between countries, as a means of setting
benchmarks for improvement.
Other data sources on the demand for skills
Between censuses, information on the demand for skills can be accessed from national or
sector-wide surveys of enterprises or people in employment. The latter are directed mainly at
people in the labour force, in the form of labour force survey. Data on occupations and
qualifications can also be collected as part of a survey with another prime purpose such as a
household income and expenditure survey.
However, these surveys need to meet several conditions. First, where they focus on
individuals, they need to be based on a representative sample of the population in scope, for
example all those working in the formal economy, as defined. Second, the sample needs to be
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large enough to provide enough useful detail about important occupations and relevant
qualifications. Third, the information on people’s work description needs to be coded into a
recognised system of occupational classifications such as ISCO.
Fourth, it is highly desirable to collect information on jobs, skills and qualifications directly
from enterprises. Employers are the primary decision-makers about what jobs to fund and
what skills are needed to perform the tasks bundled together to form a job. Fifth, if data are
collected from individuals in employment through a labour force or household income and
expenditure survey, then information should also be collected about the individual’s employer,
such as number of employees, activities of the enterprise, and location.
Limits of this report
No information was available on the employment outcomes or wage levels of any post-school
education & training graduates. Nor was recent information available on wage levels by
occupation more generally in the economy. Up-to-date information on wages and occupations
will be available from the 2013 household income and expenditure survey which is now in the
field (August 2013). Information on occupations from the National Provident Fund is
available only up to 2006 as the occupation information has not been collated since then.
Information on occupations from the census is only available at the two-digit level and is,
therefore, limited to some 40 occupation groups. Information on the occupations of foreign
workers from their work visas was not available.
Review of existing reports
This review has consulted 15 reports written since 2007 on aspects of the skills needs of the
Solomon Islands economy. These reports are listed in a separate attachment to this report,
with an assessment of whether they focus on employer demand for skills, whether the report
has a focus on specific occupations and qualifications, whether data are presented on the
occupations of foreign workers. Other questions asked relate to the data sources used, such as
census data, data on occupations and industry of employment based on the records of the
National Provident Fund, an employer survey or a household income and expenditure survey.
Only one report, the 2007 World Bank study on skills in Solomon Islands, covers the national
economy with a substantial focus on the demand for skills. However, this study has
limitations. No data from the 1999 census on occupations were used, despite the fact that it is
available to the three-digit level (up to 116 occupations in ISCO 88). Information is presented
in the report on the occupations of contributors to the National Provident Fund in an appendix
but no skills-based analysis of these data are provided. The study was also unable to make use
of the 2006 household income and expenditure survey results.
The other reports provide a partial picture about the demand for skills in Solomon Islands.
Some reports give only limited attention to skills demand in Solomon Islands as they are
covering many of the countries in the region. Some reports are based on primary data
collection. One survey is limited to a particular industry sector, construction and is focused on
one key issue, how to promote the number of women employed in that sector. Other reports
are focused on a set of occupations such as health. Reports which provide an overview of the
issues related to skills are based on an analysis of secondary data, but often with no additional
analysis of available data sources. A potentially important survey of the demand for skills in
the private sector by Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) in 2011
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only includes a minority of SICCI members, only some 30 or so enterprises.
Outline of the report
Chapter One presents an overview of the age and employment profile of the population.
Chapter Two presents information on two of the three broad types of skills in demand:
cognitive and social skills. Chapter Three focus in on the broad category of technical skills.
Chapter Four reports on surveys of employers about the skill shortages they have. Chapter
Five uses information about the qualifications of job holders in professional and associate
professional occupations to identify the skills gap in the existing workforce. Chapter Six
measures the skill gap in specific occupations by comparing the share of foreign workers with
post-school qualifications with the share of Solomon Islands jobholder with post-school
qualifications.
Chapter Seven looks at available information on future infrastructure projects to offer a guide
to future skill needs. Chapter Eight looks at opportunities for work in Australian and New
Zealand labour markets based on the occupations of Solomon Island residents in Australia in
2011 and migrants from Solomon Islands granted a work visa in New Zealand.
Chapter Nine presents data on the temporary work opportunities in Australia and New
Zealand. Chapter Ten discusses the current demand for skilled migrants in Australia and New
Zealand. Chapter Eleven concludes the report with recommendations about how to best
collect and analyse data on the demand for skills relevant to the conditions in Solomon
Islands.
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Chapter One: Age and employment profile of the population
Age structure of Solomon Islands
The starting point for any labour market analysis relating to the future demand for skills needs
to be a profile of a country’s age structure. The age structure shows the size of the future
labour supply relative to the current working age population.
Figure 1: The age structure of Solomon Islands, based on 2009 census, male and
females, per cent of total population
Figure 2 below shows the number of young people now and into the future who are or will be
seeking some form of sustainable livelihood. In terms of the future size of the youth
population, the age structure shows that the youngest age group numbers 76,500, near to
double that of the 25-29 year-old age group of 42, 646.
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Figure 2: Numbers in the child and youth age groups, Solomon
Islands census 2009
Youth-dominated age structure:
number in each five-year age group
90,000
80,000 76,500
71,071
70,000
61,892
60,000
51,171
45,371
50,000
42,646
37,572
40,000
33,141
30,000
23,634
19,709
14,330
11,784
8,911 7,016
20,000
10,000
4,697 6425
0
0-4
yrs
5-9 10-14 15 - 20 - 25 - 30 - 35 - 40 - 45 - 50 - 55 - 60 - 65 - 70 - 75+
yrs yrs 19 24 29 34 39 44 49 54 59 64 69 74 yrs
The youth bulge and the pressure for more jobs
The best measure of a youth bulge in the population is the share of young people in the adult
population. The youth population can be defined in terms of age narrowly as 15-24 years or
more broadly as 15-29 years.
Figure 3: Proportion of young people aged 15-24 years and 15-29
years in the population aged 15 years and above, per cent
Youth bulge: Share of youth age groups
in adult population, Honiara & Total
15-29 yrs Honiara
52
15-24 yrs Honiara
36
15-29 yrs National
45
15-24 yrs National
32
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Per cent of population 15 years & above
Figure 3 shows that near to one-in-three (32 per cent) of the adult population nationally are
aged 15-24 years and near to half (45 per cent) of the adult population are aged 15-29 years.
The youth age group 15-24 years accounts for over a third (36 per cent) of the adult
population of Honiara. The youth age 15-29 years accounts for over half (52 per cent) of the
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adult population in Honiara.
UN population projections by country provide age-based estimates of the population in 2015
and 2020.2 The share of young people aged 15-29 years in the population aged 15 years and
above will remain the same in 2020 as it is in 2009 at 45 per cent. However, as the youth age
groups are increasing in size, the actual number of young people will be much larger. The
projected number of young people aged 15-29 years in 2015 is 158,000 and by 2020 it will be
180,000.
Table 1: Population projections for 15-29
year-olds, 2015 & 2020, Solomon Islands
2010
142,000
2015
158,000
2020
180,000
What number of jobs will be needed in the future? One way to estimate future numbers of
jobs needed in the formal and urban informal economy is to apply the non-farm employmentto-population ratio in 2009 to the projected working age population aged 15 years and above
in 2015 and 2020. The non-farm employment-to-population ratio in 2009 was 24.1 per cent.
Applying the same ratio to future projected population in 2015 and 2020 gives the following
results.
Table 2: projected numbers of non-farm employment
needed for 2015 and 2020, Solomon Islands
2009
73,814
2015
85,073
2020
96,159
This simple modelling exercise shows that a further 11,000 jobs are needed in 2015 and in
2020, another 11,000 jobs just to maintain the same non-farm employment-to-population ratio
of 2009.
Employment structure of Solomon Islands economy
The 2009 census asked what type of work/activity does this person usually do? The reference
period was the previous week and the question was asked of the population aged 12 years and
above. The responses were collected according to eight employment categories: government
or private sector employee, employer to self-employed, voluntary work, unpaid family
worker, producing goods for sale and producing goods for own consumption. To give a
broader overview of the employment structure of the Solomon Islands, these categories can be
grouped into three broader types of economies: formal, informal and subsistence (see Table
3).
2
UN Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision. http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm
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The formal economy, consisting of wage employees and employers employs only one-in-five
(21 per cent) of the employed population aged 15 years and above (Table 3). Near to two-infive (37 per cent) are employed in the informal economy, either as self-employed, volunteers,
unpaid family workers or producing goods such as cash crops for sale. Just over two-in-five
(42 per cent) are mainly producing goods for their own consumption in the subsistence
economy. The numbers employed in the formal economy in mid 2009 are broadly consistent
with 48,332 NPF contributors at the end of 2012. The later was a 9 per cent increase on the
previous year 2011.3
Table 3: Employment profile of population aged 15 years and above,
Solomon Islands 2009, numbers & per cent
Formal
economy
Informal Subsistence
economy
economy
Total
43,505
77,763
86,850
208,118
20.9
37.4
41.7
100
The formal economy can be further grouped into government and private sector employees
and employers (see Table 4). Just over one-in-three (35 per cent) of the population aged 12
years and over are government employees, three-in-five (62 per cent) are private sector
employees and 4 per cent are employers.
Table 4: Type of employment in the formal economy for the population
aged 15 years & above, Solomon Islands 2009, numbers & per cent
Government
employee
Private
sector
employee
Employer
Total
15,126
26,878
1,501
43,505
34.8
61.8
3.5
100.0
Occupations of contributors to the National Provident Fund
More recent data, using information from the National Provident Fund (NPF), are presented
below. These data focus on wage employees and employers - those employed in both the
public and private sectors of the formal economy. The most stable quarterly figures from the
NPF are for the second, third and fourth quarters in 2012 and the first quarter in 2013. The
table presents the average for these four quarters.
Data from the 2009 census on employment by specific industry sector is shown in Attachment
1 to this chapter. These data include a number of sectors that are not in the formal economy.
These are:
Speech by Governor Denton Rarawa at launch of the CBSI 2012 Annual Report. Kitano Mendana Hotel, 10
May, 2013, p 3.
3
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
01 Crop and animal production hunting and related service activities

03 Fishing and aquaculture

16 Manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork except furniture;
manufacture of articles of straw and plaiting materials

98 Undifferentiated goods-producing activities of private households for own use
With the above sectors excluded from the census industry data to focus on the formal
economy, a comparison between the census data and the NPF data, sector by sector, shows a
reasonable correspondence except for one sector. The total number in the construction sector
in the census is 8,070 plus two specialist construction sectors with 283 and 251 respectively.
However the NPF data show that only 1,266 people are employed as wage employees in the
sector and the SIBEPA survey records 2,788 employees in construction.
Another sector where the figures between total employment in the census and wage
employment (NPF) are different is in retail. The census records 7,587 in the retail trade except
motor vehicles. The NPF records 3,854 employers and employers. The census, no doubt,
includes storekeepers, market stall holders and street sellers as well as those employed as
wage employees in the formal economy.
Domestic/personal services is heavily male dominated and suggests that the data refer to
security guards employed by established security firms. It is likely that women employed as
domestic servants are not members of the NPF. However, both data sets have gaps and
consistencies between them, and should be taken as indicative only and not offering definitive
results. The key fact taken from the comparison of the two data sources on industry is the
lower count for the number of wage employees and employers in the construction sector in
the formal economy.
The largest industry sectors in terms of NPF contributors in employment are: education
services (10,139), public administration (8,134), logging (6,731), retail trade (3,854), other
social services (2,053), agriculture services (1,809), food manufacturing (1,806).
Other
significant employment sectors are wholesale trade (1,581), religion (1,356), mining (1,295),
construction (1,266), domestic/personal services (1,249), hotels (1,204) and health services
(1,001).
Female male balance
The industries with the most female employees are: restaurants (72 per cent), food
manufacturing (59 per cent), health services (57 per cent) and hotels (56 per cent). The
industries where women have below national average presence are as follows: construction (7
per cent), logging (8 per cent), domestic/personal services (9 per cent), water transport (11 per
cent), forestry (11 per cent), fishing (11 per cent). The also include: saw milling (11 per cent),
mining (13 per cent), tobacco manufacturing (13 per cent), electricity (13 per cent) auto repair
services (15 per cent), agriculture & livestock production (17 per cent), information
technology (18 per cent), religion (21 per cent), communication services (26 per cent) and
wholesale trade (28 per cent).
Table 5: Industry wage & salary employment, 2012-2013, average over
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four quarters, 2012-2013, total, male, female
Industry
Total
code
Industry
Male Female
Agriculture Services
01
1,809 1,149
Agriculture & Livestock Production
01
46
38
8
Saw Milling
02
214
190
24
Forestry
02
297
266
32
Logging
02
6,731 6,212
519
Fishing
03
Mining
603
660
537
67
07
1,295 1,133
162
Food Manufacturing
10
1,806
742
1,064
Tobacco Manufacturing
12
174
151
23
Clothing Manufacturing
14
21
6
15
Furniture Manufacturing
31
57
55
2
Other Manufacturing
32
2
2
0
Electricity
35
257
223
34
Construction
41
1,266 1,176
90
Auto Repair Services
45
Wholesale Trade
127
22
46
1,581 1,142
440
Retail Trade
47
3,854 2,376
1,478
Land transport
49
2
2
0
Water Transport
50
944
845
99
Air Transport
51
231
154
77
Transport Services
52
327
227
100
Hotels
55
1,204
533
671
Restaurants
56
414
118
296
Information Technology
62
111
91
20
Printing
63
288
185
104
Communication Services
63
819
604
215
Banking
64
703
353
350
Real Estate & Business Services
68
139
80
59
Water supply
69
201
134
66
Public Administration
84
8,134 5,431
2,703
Education Services
85
10,139 5,892
4,247
Health Services
86
1,001
434
567
Other Social Services
88
2,053 1,409
644
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149
Social Welfare Services
88
Religion
Domestic/Personal Services
116
93
94
1,356 1,077
279
96
1,249 1,139
110
Total
208
49,680 34,345 15,336
Source: National Provident Fund, Solomon Islands
Focus on specific sectors
The design specification for Skilling Youth in the Pacific Program identifies engineering,
manufacturing, construction and maritime industries as a primary focus with education and
health sectors a secondary focus. The information on industry sectors from the 2009 census,
presented in Table A1.1 to this chapter.
Engineering
The only sector that makes explicit reference to engineering is the civil engineering sector.
This sector has 283 employees.
Manufacturing
The data show that manufacturing jobs in the formal economy is 3,650. This calculation
excludes the sector ‘manufacture of wood & of products of wood & cork except furniture;
manufacture of articles of straw & plaiting materials’ on the assumption that it covers work
such as wood carvers in the informal economy. Nearly half of this employment in the formal
economy is in food manufacturing which is dominated by work for Sol Tuna which has more
than 1,500 workers in the Western Province and Guadalcanal.
The other manufacturing sectors have relatively few employers, ranging from 148 employed
in the manufacture of furniture, 142 employed in the manufacture of other non-metallic
mineral products, 124 in the manufacture of other transport equipment, 120 in the
manufacture of textiles, and 104 in the manufacture of wearing apparel, and 93 in the
manufacture of beverages. Other sectors with smaller numbers of employees are 81 working
in the manufacture of tobacco products, 76 working in printing & reproduction of recorded
media, 53 working in the manufacture of basic metals, and 50 employed in the manufacture of
pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemicals & botanical products. The small numbers in
employment by sector activity suggest that the enterprises engaged in manufacturing are
small, and with this it can be assumed, limited capacity for in-house training.
Construction
It is difficult to know the size of employment in the construction in the formal economy from
the available census data, As noted above, the 8,070 recorded for employment in the
construction sector needs to be compared with the 1,266 employed as wage employees and
NPF contributors. Another reference point is the SIBEPA survey results which number of
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people employed is 2,788 in 161 companies.4 The NPF contributors are likely to represent the
core workforce and the remaining 1,500 or so are likely to be temporary employees or
subcontractors who are engaged only for the life of a project.
The SIBEPA survey notes that the construction industry has a small number of large
employers and many small employers. The five largest employers account for 1,021
employees, out of the total 2,746 employees (see Figure 4 below), with the next largest
employer with 50 employees.
Figure 4: Five largest employers by employment size in the construction industry
in Solomon Islands, November 2011
Maritime industry
The size of employment in the maritime industry is difficult to gauge from the available
census data. No employment is recorded for any of the transport sectors: land, water or air.
This could be to do with these employees being away from home when the census
interviewers called.
The NPF data in Table 5 above show that 944 are employees in water transport. In rank order,
this employment size places it in fifteenth position behind hotels with 1,204 employees and
health services with 1,001 employees.
D&C Enterprises Ltd for the Solomon Islands Built Environment Professionals Association (SIBEPA), 2011,
Construction Sector Survey Surveyed by D&C Enterprises Ltd on behalf of RSIIP and funded by The RAMSI
Development Program, p 10.
4
16 of 100
Attachment 1
Table A1.1: Industry profile based on International Standard Industrial
Classification of Economic Activities, two-digit level, numbers & per cent,
Solomon Islands census 2009
N
per cent
122,961
59.1
5,425
2.6
11,465
5.5
05 Mining & coal
8
0.0
06 Extraction of crude petroleum & natural gas
6
0.0
07 Mining & metal ores
114
0.1
08 Other mining & quarrying
370
0.2
09 Mining support services activities
129
0.1
1,774
0.9
11 Manufacture of beverages
93
0.0
12 Manufacture of tobacco products
81
0.0
13 Manufacture of textiles
120
0.1
14 Manufacture of wearing apparel
104
0.0
7
0.0
2,339
1.1
8
0.0
18 Printing & reproduction of recorded media
76
0.0
19 Manufacture of coke & refined petroleum products
26
0.0
20 Manufacture of chemicals & chemical products
41
0.0
21 Manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemicals & botanical
products
50
0.0
9
0.0
142
0.1
24 Manufacture of basic metals
53
0.0
25 Manufacture of fabricated metal products except machinery &
equipment
38
0.0
26 Manufacture of computer electronic & optical products
5
0.0
27 Manufacture of electrical equipment
8
0.0
28 Manufacture of machinery & equipment
43
0.0
29 Manufacture of motor vehicles trailers & semi-trailers
26
0.0
ISIC Industry sub-major groups
01 Crop & animal production hunting & related service activities
02 Forestry & logging
03 Fishing & aquaculture
10 Manufacture of food products
15 Manufacture of leather & related products
16 Manufacture of wood & of products of wood & cork except
furniture; manufacture of articles of straw & plaiting materials
17 Manufacture of paper & paper products
22 Manufacture of rubber & plastics products
23 Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products
17 of 100
30 Manufacture of other transport equipment
124
0.1
31 Manufacture of furniture
148
0.1
32 Other manufacturing
674
0.3
33 Repair & installation of machinery & equipment
401
0.2
35 Electricity gas steam & air conditioning supply
373
0.2
69
0.0
0
0.0
25
0.0
7
0.0
8,070
3.9
42 Civil engineering
283
0.1
43 Specialised construction activities
251
0.1
45 Wholesale & retail trade & repair of motor vehicles & motorcycles
803
0.4
46 Wholesale trade except of motor vehicles & motorcycles
475
0.2
7,587
3.6
49 Land transport & transport via pipelines
0
0.0
50 Water transport
0
0.0
51 Air transport
0
0.0
52 Warehousing & support activities for transportation
0
0.0
53 Postal & courier activities
0
0.0
55 Accommodation
775
0.4
56 Food & beverage services activities
694
0.3
58 Publishing activities
82
0.0
59 Motion picture video & television programme production etc
47
0.0
60 Programming & broadcasting activities
83
0.0
385
0.2
82
0.0
63 Information services activities
127
0.1
64 Financial services activities except insurance & pension funding
405
0.2
65 Insurance re-insurance & pension funding except compulsory
social security
32
0.0
66 Activities to financial services & insurance activities
59
0.0
68 Real estate activities
16
0.0
285
0.1
70 Activities of head offices; management consultancy activities
64
0.0
71 Architectural & engineering activities; technical testing & analysis
93
0.0
36 Water collection treatment & supply
37 Sewerage
38 Waste collect & treatment & disposal activities; materials recovery
39 Remediation activities & other waste management services
41 Construction of buildings
47 Retail trade except of motor vehicles & motorcycles
61 Telecommunications
62 Computer programming consultancy & related activities
69 Legal & accounting activities
18 of 100
72 Scientific research & development
5
0.0
73 Advertising & market research
9
0.0
34
0.0
75 Veterinary activities
1
0.0
77 Rental & leasing activities
6
0.0
78 Employment activities
45
0.0
79 Travel agency, tour operator, reservation services & related acts
45
0.0
1,931
0.9
82
0.0
138
0.1
84 Public Administration & defence
6,926
3.3
85 Education
7,706
3.7
86 Human Health activities
1,907
0.9
87 Residential care activities
13
0.0
88 Social work activities without accommodation
26
0.0
135
0.1
78
0.0
92 Gambling & betting activities
123
0.1
93 Sports activities & amusement & recreation activities
190
0.1
2,558
1.2
5
0.0
181
0.1
97 Activities of households as employees of domestic personnel
1,027
0.5
98 Goods-producing activities of private households for own use
16,026
7.7
881
0.4
74 Other professional scientific & technical activities
80 Security & investigation activities
81 Services to buildings & landscape activities
82 Office admin, office support & other business support activities
90 Creative arts & entertain activities
91 Libraries archives museums & other cultural activities
94 Activities of members organisations
95 Repair of computers & personal & household goods
96 Other personal service activities
99 Activities of extraterritorial organisations & bodies
Total
208,118 100.0
19 of 100
Table A1.2 Classification of sub-major occupation groups, ISCO 88, numbers &
per cent, Solomon Islands census 2009
N
ISCO 88 Sub-major occupation groups
Per cent
1 Managers
11 Legislators & senior officials
988
0.5
12 Corporate managers
747
0.4
13 General Managers
229
0.1
14 Retail & other services manager
341
0.2
583
0.3
22 Life science & health professionals
1,525
0.7
23 Teaching professionals
7,773
3.7
24 Other professionals
1,744
0.8
53
0.0
1,606
0.8
31 Physical & engineering science technicians
999
0.5
32 Life science & health associate professionals (except nursing)
473
0.2
1,072
0.5
34 Other associate professionals
769
0.4
35 Information & communications technicians
187
0.1
41 Office Clerks
543
0.3
42 Customer service clerks
686
0.3
1,363
0.7
181
0.1
51 Personal & protective services workers
7,587
3.6
52 Salespersons
5,197
2.5
64
0.0
3,707
1.8
17,468
8.4
8,564
4.1
108,272
52.0
71 Extraction & building trade workers
8,787
4.2
72 Metal machinery & related workers
1,876
0.9
2 Professionals
21 Physical mathematical & engineering science professionals
25 Information & communications technology professionals
26 Legal social & cultural professionals
3 Technicians & Associate Professionals
33 Teaching associate professionals
4 Clerical Support Workers
43 Numerical & material recording clerks
44 Other clerical support workers
5 Services and Sales Workers
53 Personal care workers
54 Protective service workers
6 Skilled Agricultural, Forestry & Fishery Workers
61 Market oriented skilled agricultural & fishery worker
62 Subsistence agricultural & fishery workers
63 Subsistence farmers fishers hunters & gathers
7 Craft & Related Trades Workers
20 of 100
73 Precision handicrafts printing & related workers
2,118
1.0
301
0.1
2,279
1.1
1,834
0.9
82 Machine operators & assemblers
83
0.0
83 Drivers & mobile plant operators
3,280
1.6
91 Sales & services elementary occupations
10,495
5.0
92 Agricultural fishery & related labourers
2,262
1.1
867
0.4
94 Food preparation
69
0.0
95 Street & related sales & service worker
20
0.0
787
0.4
74 Other craft & related trades workers
75 Food processing wood working garment & other craft & related
8 Plant & Machine Operators & Assemblers
81 Stationery plant & related operators
9 Elementary Occupations
93 Labourers in mining construction manufacturing & transport
96 Refuse workers & other elementary workers
21 of 100
Chapter Two: Types of skills in demand: cognitive and social
Three types of skills can be identified: cognitive (or thinking) skills, social skills and technical
skills.5

Cognitive skills refer to the ability to read and write, being able to express oneself
verbally, have a good working memory, and being numerate and able to solve simple
problems.

Social skills refer to the ability to work with others as part of a team, to be reliable, to
show self-discipline and to make the effort to complete the work as expected.

Technical skills refer to the ability to perform certain tasks.
Identifying cognitive skills
Cognitive skills can only be assessed by special surveys such as early grade reading
assessments undertaken in Tonga and Vanuatu. The Solomon Islands Standardised Testing and
Assessment provides similar information. Surveys of the adult population include the Literacy
and Education Experience Survey conducted by the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic
and Adult Education (ASPBAE) and the Coalition for Education in Solomon Islands.
The census provides data on a self-assessment of whether literate or not. The 2009 census
found an adult literacy rate of 84 per cent. However, the Literacy and Education Experience
Survey, referred to above, focused on adults who said they could speak English or Pijin and
asked them to do a simple test involving reading, writing and counting. The survey results,
based on a random sample of 1,780 adults for two provinces, Renbel and Isabel, showed that
having attended school does not assure the attainment of literacy.
The survey found that over 50 per cent of adults who completed primary school were
classified as semi-literate. Only a third of adults in Renbel and a quarter in Isabel were rated
as literate. Over half in both provinces, 51 and 56 per cent respectively, were rated as semiliterate. Between one-in-six and one-in-five, 15 and 19 per cent respectively, were rated as
non-literate.6 Even more telling is the finding that a significant minority of those who
completed of secondary school were not rated as literate. Of those who completed secondary
school, only two-in-three (65 per cent) were literate and one-in-three (33 per cent) were rated
as semi-literate in Renbel Province. In Isabel Province just less than half (45 per cent) of those
surveyed were rated as literate and near to half were rated as semi-literate.7
The same picture applies to the results of a similar survey, based on a random sample of
2,200, conducted in Honiara and Malaita in late 2006 and early 2007. This survey showed that
Box 5.7 ‘How skills are formed and how they are measured’ in World Bank, 2012, World Development
Report 2013: Jobs. Washington DC, p 175
6
ASPBAE Australia, 2011, ASPBAE Education Experience Survey and Literacy Assessment Renbel and Isabel
Provinces, Solomon Islands ASPBAE Australia Ltd and Coalition for Education Solomon Islands (COESI),
Canberra, Table 36, p 25. see
5
http://www.campaignforeducation.org/csef/bulletins/sep11/Renbel_and_Isabel_Survey_Report_Apr_20_2011.pdf
ASPBAE Australia, 2011, ASPBAE Education Experience Survey and Literacy Assessment Renbel and Isabel
Provinces, Solomon Islands. Table 37, p 26.
7
22 of 100
only just over one-in-four of those who had completed primary school could be rated as
literate. Less than half of those who had completed secondary school were rated as literate.8
Table 6 below shows that young people are more likely to be literate in Renbel Province with
just under half of 15-24 year-olds rated as literate. Nevertheless, two-in-five of this youth age
group are rated as semi-literate. For Isabel Province, the proportion of young people who are
literate is much lower, with over half rated as semi-literate and one-in-four rated as not
literate. These results suggest that despite younger age groups having more recent access to
schooling, this schooling seems to be failing many young people.
Table 6: Literacy rating by five year age group, Renbel and Isabel Provinces, 2010
Source: ASPRAE Education experience survey and literacy assessment, Renbel and Isabel Provinces,
2010, p 23.
It is interesting to note that a World Bank multivariate analysis of the determinants of wage
differences show that only those employees older than age 24 years with tertiary education
have a higher wage compared with those with a primary or secondary education or a
vocational certificate.9 In other words, employers in Solomon Islands are only willing to pay
higher wages for employees with tertiary education. This analysis is based on 2006 data and
so may not be as applicable seven years later.
Identifying social skills
The importance of social skills to employers in Solomon Islands is shown in the answers to a
survey question about the skills and qualities most difficult to find in new employees between
15 to 30 years of age. Table 7 shows that employers rate work attitude, communication and
experience slightly ahead of education level and technical skills. The survey of employers is
based on responses from about a third of the 100 members of the Solomon Islands Chamber
ASPBAE, 2007, Solomon Islands: Summary Report Education Experience Survey Education, Language and
Experience, p12 . Available at http://www.paddle.usp.ac.fj/collect/paddle/index/assoc/abspae00.dir/doc.pdf
9
See Appendix 14: Determinants of wages among the employed, impact on wages, p 69; Emily Farchy, 2011,
Labor Markets In The Pacific Islands, East Asia and Pacific Social Protection, Human Development Department,
World Bank, Sydney Regional Office. Model 3 shows that the significant factors in explaining a higher wage rate
are being older than 15-24 years, having tertiary education, being a household head and living in an urban area.
Both primary and secondary education attainment are not significant and have a negative sign. Having a
vocational certificate appears to be positively associated with a higher wage but the association is not statistically
significant. The numbers of vocational certificate holders over the age of 24 may not be large enough to have an
impact on the results. I am grateful to Brent Taylor for his comments on how to interpret these results.
8
23 of 100
of Commerce & Industry.
Table 7: Skills and qualities most difficult to find in new employees
between 15 to 30 years of age, Survey of SICCI members, 2012
Skills or qualities
Per cent
Work Attitude
15.7
Communication
14.0
Experience
12.0
Educational Level
11.7
Decision Making
11.7
Technical Skills
11.4
Computer & IT
10.8
Analytical Skills
10.8
Foreign Language
2.0
Total
100
These results show the importance of including opportunities to acquire social skills in the
design of any technical training program. This includes mandatory periods of structured work
placement in workplaces with mentors or supervisors who have themselves the time and
understanding of how to impart these social skills. Where the technical training is aimed at
meeting the competency standards of Australian or New Zealand workplaces, the work
experience needs to be comparable to the performance standards applied in these overseas
workplaces.
Conclusion
Social and emotional intelligence is just as important as cognitive and technical skills. Socalled non-cognitive social skills, attributes like self-restraint, persistence and self-awareness,
may be better predictors of a person's life trajectory than standard academic measures. A 2011
study using data collected on 17,000 British infants followed over fifty years found that a
child's level of mental well-being correlated strongly with future success.10
A key element of any skills training program in Solomon Islands has to provide opportunities
to acquire these social skills. One way to do this is to provide work placements in high
performance workplaces in Solomon Islands, where the number of places will be limited, or
in workplaces in the region, especially in Australia or New Zealand.
10
Kahn, J, 2013, ‘Can emotional intelligence be taught?’ New York Times Sunday magazine, 15 September.
24 of 100
Chapter Three: Types of skills in demand: technical skills
The best way to identify the level of technical skills in the formal economy is to use national
data on occupation classified according to a skills-based occupation classification system. The
census provides a greatly underused source of information on the nature of the demand for
skilled jobs in the economy.
As with all data collection exercises, it involves taking the raw description of a person’s job
and coding it into a recognised system of classification. The system used in the Pacific island
countries and in many other countries is the ILO’s International Standard Classification of
Occupations (ISCO). The ISCO is often used by countries without adaptation while some
countries use ISCO as a basis for developing their own job classification system. Australia
and New Zealand have their own job classification called ANZSCO which is compatible with
ISCO. A concordance or ‘cross walk’ is available for an earlier version of ISCO and the
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) have stated on their website that a concordance is under
development for the most recent version, although this needs to be confirmed by the ABS.
The ISCO is broadly skills-based system of job classification, based on the two defining
features of jobs: skill level and skill specialisation. The listing of major civilian occupational
groups starts with senior officials and managers at the top, followed by professionals,
technicians & associate professionals next etc.
ISCO Major groups
0--Armed forces occupations
1--Managers
2--Professionals
3--Technicians and associate professionals
4--Clerical support workers
5--Service and sales workers
6--Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery
workers
7--Craft and related trades workers
8--Plant and machine operators, and
assemblers
9--Elementary occupations
ISCO-08 is a four-level classification system that allows all jobs to be classified into 436 unit
groups based on their similarity in terms of the skill level and skill specialisation. These
groups form the most detailed level of the classification structure at the four-digit level. These
can then be aggregated into 130 minor groups at the three-digit level, 43 sub-major groups at
the two-digit level and 10 major groups at the one-digit level.
This system, as its 2012 manual states ‘allows the production of relatively detailed
25 of 100
internationally comparable data as well as summary information for only 10 groups at the
highest level of aggregation’.11
The senior officials and managerial occupations start with digit 1. Professional occupations
start with the digit 2, technical & associate professional occupations with the digit 3, clerical
support occupations with the digit 4. Service and sales workers commerce with digit 5.
Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers start with digit 6 and trade-related
occupations with the digit 7. Plant and machine operators, and assemblers start with digit 8
and elementary occupations start with digit 9.
The latest version is ISCO 08 adopted at the beginning of 2008. However, the Solomon
Islands 2009 census uses an earlier version ISCO 88 (adopted in 1988).12 ISCO 88 is
essentially the same but with some important changes to reflect the changing nature of work,
especially involving computers. The advantage that the use of ISCO 88 in the 2009 census
provides is an easier comparison with the occupations in the 1999 census based on ISCO 88.
However, unfortunately the information on jobs from 2009 census has only been released at
the two-digit level, unlike the 1999 census which published information on occupations at the
three-digit level. This means that information is only available for some 40 occupational
groups compared with over 130 occupational groups in 1999 (see Table A3.1 in the
attachment to this chapter for information on the numbers of groups at each level of ISCO 08
and ISCO 88).
The fact that the more detailed three-digit occupational groups are not available for the 2009
census is a major gap in our understanding of the nature of the demand for skills in Solomon
Islands. It is at this level that occupations are more easily recognised. For example, rather than
Science and engineering associate professionals, it is possible to identify as separate
occupations such as following relevant occupations.
311 - Civil chemical mechanical & electrical technicians
312 - Construction manufacturing & mining supervisor
313 - Chemical natural gas power processing plant controllers
314 - Agricultural & life science technicians
315 - Air & ships professionals
The raw data on jobs from the census exist. These job descriptions may have been coded to
the four-digit level to enable a higher aggregation to the two-digit level. It is recommended
that further analysis of these data be commissioned to convert the job descriptions to ISCO 08
and to provide information on occupations at the three and four-digit level. These data can
provide an excellent baseline for tracking changes in the demand for skill over time.
ILO, 2012, International Standard Classification of Occupations: Structure, Group Definitions &
Correspondence Tables. ISCO-08 Volume 1. International Labour Organisation, Geneva, p 3.
12
The computer scanning of the data on occupation that did not pick up the ISCO 2008 codes correctly so the
NSO reverted to using ISCO 88 version. However, some occupation groups from ISCO 08 were used, especially
those relating to computer-related jobs.
11
26 of 100
Labour market demand
The total number of people aged 15 years and over in employment recorded by the 2009
census is 208,118. However, if the focus narrows to non-farm employment, the number falls
to 73,814. Using the education and skills-based occupational classification system ISCO, it is
possible to identify the number of occupations that require at least the completion of
secondary school education or a post-school qualification. The number of these education or
skills-based jobs is 37,251 or half of the total non-farm employment.
Skills profile of the economy
ISCO has four skill levels which are applied to each broad occupation group (see Table 8).
These ISCO skill levels provide a guide to the education levels required to the perform work
at these skill levels. Skill Level Four is mapped to education attainment of either first stage of
tertiary education first degree (medium duration) or second stage of tertiary education leading
to an advanced research qualification. Skill level Three is mapped to education attainment of
first stage of tertiary education (short or medium duration). Skill Level Two is mapped to
three levels of education attainment: post-secondary non-tertiary education, upper secondary
and lower secondary education levels. Skill level One is mapped to the primary level of
education.
Table 8: Mapping of major ISCO groups to skill levels
For the first ISCO major group of senior officials and managers, the designated skill levels are
Three and Four (see the attachment to this chapter for a description of these skill levels). For
Professionals, the skill level is Four. For technicians & associate professionals the skill is
Three. For clerical support workers, the skill level is Two. Craft and related trades workers are
designated as Skill Level Two.
Skills profile of non-farm sector in Solomon Islands
The non-farm sector of the Solomon Islands has a low skill-based occupational profile
focused on the delivery of services. Only one-in-four (26 per cent) occupations are in the top
three skill levels. Professionals account for nearly one-in-five (18 per cent) of the non-farm
workforce. These are the occupations that in most instances require a post-secondary
qualification. The remaining occupations are at Skill Levels Two and One. These Skill Levels
are associated with varying levels of education from lower secondary to post-secondary non27 of 100
tertiary education,
28 of 100
Demand for skills-based occupations
The following table listing the skills-based occupations shows that the demand for skills in the
non-farm sector in Solomon Islands is modest. At the senior officials and professional levels,
the only occupation that has a large number is that of teachers. The next largest groups at the
professional level are Other professionals (mainly business and administrative) and Life
science and health professionals (mainly nurses).
At the technician and associate professional level, the occupation groups range is from 1,072
Teaching associate professionals to 187 Information and communications technicians.
Table 9: Numbers in main skill-based occupations, Solomon Islands census 2009
Main skill-based occupations ISCO submajor groups
N
Main skill based occupations ISCO submajor groups
32 Life science and health associate
professionals (except nursing)
1 Legislators, Senior Officials, Managers
11 Legislators and senior officials
988 33 Teaching associate professionals
12 Corporate managers
747 34 Other associate professionals
13 General Managers
229
14 Retail and other services manager
341 4 Clerical support workers
41 Office Clerks
2 Professionals
21 Physical mathematical and engineering
science professionals
35 Information and communications
technicians
583 42 Customer service clerks
43 Numerical and material recording
clerks
22 Life science and health professionals
1,525
23 Teaching professionals
7,773 44 Other clerical support workers
24 Other professionals
1,744 7 Craft and related trades workers
25 Information and communications
technology professionals
26 Legal social and cultural professionals
3 Technicians & Associate Professionals
31 Physical and engineering science
technicians
53
N
473
1,072
769
187
543
686
1,363
181
71 Extraction and building trade workers
8,787
1,606 72 Metal machinery and related workers
1,876
73 Precision handicrafts printing and
related workers
2,118
999 74 Other craft and related trades workers
301
75 Food processing wood working
garment and other craft and related
2,279
29 of 100
Changes 1999-2009
Table 10: Numbers and proportion employed in non-agricultural occupations,
1999 & 2009 census, Solomon Islands, per cent
1999
2009
1999
2009
1 Legislators, Senior Officials, Managers
2,502
2,305
5.9
3.1
2 Professionals
6,514
13,284
15.4
18.1
3 Technicians & Associate Professionals
3,044
3,500
7.2
4.8
4 Clerical workers
2,301
2,773
5.4
3.8
5 Workers In Services, Shop & Market
Sales
7,826
16,555
18.5
22.5
7 Craft & Related Trades Workers
7,327
15,361
17.3
20.9
8 Plant & Machine Operators, Assemblers
5,783
5,197
13.7
7.1
9 Elementary Occupations
6,955
14,500
16.5
19.7
42,252
73,475
100
100
Occupation - major groups
Total
The above table shows that four occupational groups have grown significantly in number, two
have grown slightly and the numbers in two occupation groups have fallen. The occupation
groups that have doubled their number between 1999 and 2009 are in order of importance:
 workers in services, shop & market sales;
 craft and related trades workers;
 elementary occupations and the
 professionals.
The occupations with a relatively small increase in their number are clerical workers and
technicians & associate professionals. The two occupation groups that have decreased their
number are:
 legislators, senior officials, managers and
 plant & machine operators, and assemblers.
These results show that in the past decade the employment opportunities for clerical staff and
technicians and associate professionals are likely to be limited. One factor may be
Government Budget pressure on the public sector to limit its growth in employment.
More detail on the changes to occupation numbers over time
At the more detailed two-digit level, it is possible to look at more specific occupation groups.
These groups are not always comparable between 1999 and 2009 but Table shows data for
professionals, technician and associate professionals, and craft & related trades workers.
The large increase in the number of professionals is due for most part to the increase in the
30 of 100
number of teachers. The next largest increase is in engineering and related science
professionals. This category includes engineers, and architects. Life science and health
professionals have also increased their number. The occupation group includes nurses. Other
professionals includes business professionals such as accountants. It also includes lawyers.
At the technician and associate professional level, the numbers of specific occupation groups
have increased slightly or declined, except for teaching associate professionals. 13 Life science
and health associate professionals have increased their number slightly but physical and
engineering science technicians have remained static. The largest subgroup within this latter
group are ship controllers and technicians, accounting for 60 per cent of the total number in
the physical and engineering science technicians group in 1999. This detail for 1999 cannot be
produced for 2009, due to lack of information at the three-digit level, as noted above.
The numbers of ‘Other associate professionals’ who are mainly administrative, finance and
customs agents have also remained largely static if ICT technicians are included.
For trades related workers, by far the largest increase in numbers between 1999 and 2009 is
extraction and building trade workers. Next in importance are food processing workers
(including more than 1,500 workers in the Western Province and Guadalcanal working for Sol
Tuna). The precision handicrafts and printing workers refers mainly to producers of traditional
handicrafts. Metal & machinery workers have increased over time but not by any magnitude.
In relation to extraction and building trade workers, the 1999 information at the three-digit
level shows that most (four out of five or 79 per cent) are building frame workers. These
workers are likely to have only basic building skills. One one-in-six (16 per cent) of this
occupation group are the more skilled ‘building finishers’. This profile of the skills used in the
construction sector is confirmed by data from the 2009 industry classification. These data
show that most in the construction are employed in the ‘construction of buildings’ (8,070),
with few employed in ‘civil engineering’ (283) and ‘specialised construction activities’ (251).
Other teaching associate professionals includes early childhood educators & special needs teachers as well as
instructors for diving etc.
13
31 of 100
Table 11: Numbers of skill-based occupation groups at each ISCO submajor-major level, 1999 & 2009 census, Solomon Islands
ISCO sub-major groups
1999
2009
2 Professionals
21 Physical mathematical and engineering science professionals
182
583
22 Life science and health professionals
981
1,525
23 Teaching professionals
3,942
7,773
24 Other professionals
1,409
1,744
25 Information and communications technology professionals
53
26 Legal social and cultural professionals
1,606
3 Technicians & Associate Professionals
31 Physical and engineering science technicians
32 Life science and health associate professionals (except nursing)
33 Teaching associate professionals
34 Other associate professionals
1,073
999
305
473
26
1,072
1,119
769
35 Information and communications technicians
187
7 Craft and related trades workers
71 Extraction and building trade workers
3,213
8,787
72 Metal machinery and related workers
1,389
1,876
73 Precision handicrafts and printing & related workers
1,348
2,118
74 Other craft and related trades workers
1,377
301
75 Food processing, wood working, garment and other craft and related
1,077
2,279
Key trends in occupational changes
The trend in occupational changes between 1999 and 2009 appear to be a growth on
occupations at the high skill levels and at the low skill levels but with a decline in middle
level skills. These trends noted for Solomon Islands also reflect a pattern identified over a
thirty-year period for the USA and confirmed by recent evidence from 16 European countries
and Australia.14 The pattern in most countries has been for jobs to grow at both ends of the
skills spectrum with a decrease in middle-level skills. This is confirmed by a recent analysis
of occupational change in 16 European countries over the period 1993-2006. This analysis
shows rising employment shares for high-paid professionals and managers as well as for lowpaid personal services workers. However, the employment shares of manufacturing and
See Levy, F and Murnane, R; 2004, The New Division of Labor: How Computers are Creating the New Job
Market. Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford; David H. Autor, Frank Levy and Richard J. Murnane
‘The Skill Content of Recent Technological Change: An Empirical Exploration’ Quarterly Journal of Economics,
118(4), November 2003; Goos, M, Manning, A & Salomons, 2010, 'Explaining Job Polarisation in Europe: The
Roles of Technology, Globalisation and Institutions', CEP Discussion Paper No 1026, November, Centre for
Economic Performance, London School of Economics; and Kelly, R and Lewis, P; 2010, 'The change in Labour
Skills in the Australia over the Business Cycle', Australian Bulletin of Labour, Vol 36, No 3, pp 260-277.
14
32 of 100
routine office workers have fallen.15
Job skills in demand
The US research covering the period 1969 to 1999 has shown that jobs based on ‘expert
thinking’ and ‘complex communication’ skills have grown the most. ‘Expert thinking’ refers
to the capacity to solve new problems for which there are no routine solutions. ‘Complex
communication’ refers to the capacity to observe, listen, connect with, persuade and negotiate.
These problem-solving or communication skills are required not only within the professions
and by managers. They are also important in the trade and service occupations.
Job skills in decline
In contrast, jobs based on routine thinking tasks are in decline. Since the beginning of the
1980s in the USA, jobs involving basic, repetitive thinking tasks have fallen the most sharply
of all jobs. This trend indicates that jobs which apply routine rules or procedures are under
severe threat because they can be replaced by software. Alternatively, they can be performed
at lower cost in a central location such as call centres in India or the Philippines.
As consumers can themselves now perform routine tasks such as withdrawing money from a
machine, many clerical jobs such as bank tellers are no longer needed. Many other examples
exist of how face-to-face customer service gives way to consumer-driven use of technology to
carry out routine tasks. The new skills required now are more specialised and are limited to a
smaller number of more highly skilled people who have to problem solve when the
technology fails.
Low-skilled jobs are also growing
Jobs performing routine manual tasks are also under threat because they can be replaced by
machines or by redesigned work. However, jobs that require carrying out non-routine physical
tasks show a different trend. The work done by sales workers, housekeepers, hotel staff and
caterers, personal care workers such as nursing aids, security guards, hairdressers, truck
drivers and cleaners will remain essential. This is because these jobs require the ability to
recognise and respond to changing situations and differing personal needs. The constant
changes to these tasks mean that only humans have the capacity to bring together the different
types of information needed to respond.
As leading researchers on these trends summarise these changes:
Computerisation has, therefore, fostered a polarisation of employment, with job
growth concentrated in both the highest- and lowest-paid occupations, while jobs
in the middle have declined. Surprisingly, overall employment rates have largely
been unaffected in states and cities undergoing this rapid polarisation. Rather, as
employment in routine jobs has ebbed, employment has risen both in high-wage
managerial, professional and technical occupations and in low-wage, in-person
service occupations. ...
15
Goos, M, Manning, A & Salomons, A; 2010, p 42.
33 of 100
Demand for highly educated workers who excel in abstract tasks is robust, but the
middle of the labor market, where the routine task-intensive jobs lie, is sagging.
Workers without college education, therefore, concentrate in manual taskintensive jobs - like food services, cleaning and security - which are numerous but
offer low wages, precarious job security and few prospects for upward mobility.16
Prospects for middle-level skills
However, Autor and Dorn note that all middle-education, middle-wage jobs are not likely to
disappear completely. Many middle-skill jobs will be automated if they are based mainly or
solely on routine tasks. However, some middle-skill jobs with a strong focus on quality of
service are based on a mixture of tasks that combine routine or technical tasks with nonroutine or flexible tasks. For example, medical associate professional jobs, such as a radiology
technician, or a nurse practitioner, are a rapidly growing category of relatively well-paid,
middle-skill occupations. These associate professions do not typically require a four-year
tertiary degree, but they do require some post-secondary vocational training.
Autor and Dorn conclude that ‘these middle-skill jobs will persist, and potentially grow,
because they involve tasks that cannot readily be unbundled without a substantial drop in
quality’.
... we predict that the middle-skill jobs that survive will combine routine technical
tasks with abstract and manual tasks in which workers have a comparative
advantage: interpersonal interaction, adaptability and problem-solving. Along
with medical paraprofessionals, this category includes numerous jobs for people
in the skilled trades and repair: plumbers; builders; electricians; heating,
ventilation and air-conditioning installers; automotive technicians; customerservice representatives; and even clerical workers who are required to do more
than type and file.17
Implications
The implications of these changes to occupations are several. Clerical support jobs based on
simple, routine tasks will continue to decline because computers are becoming more capable
of performing this work. However, jobs based on problem-solving and high-level
communication skills will grow the most. Also increasing will be low-skilled service jobs
because they are responding to changing personal needs and situations.
The number of middle-skill jobs in Solomon Islands except for teachers has declined between
1999 and 2009. Some middle-skill jobs will expand in the future due to their link to new
technology. Other job vacancies in middle skill occupations will come from normal job
turnover. Many job holders in middle skill occupations will also need to upgrade their skills to
enable them to perform the work expected of them.
David Autor & David Dorn, 2013, ‘How Technology Wrecks the Middle Class, New York Times, 25 August,
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/how-technology-wrecks-the-middle-class/?_r=0
See also David Autor & David Dorn, 2012, ‘The Growth of Low Skill Service Jobs and the Polarization of the
U.S. Labor Market’, American Economic Review, forthcoming, http://economics.mit.edu/files/1474
17
See Note above
16
34 of 100
Opportunities for work in high-income labour markets will follow the same pattern. The need
to have recognised skills is a key selection criterion in the immigration entry requirements of
New Zealand and Australia. However, without post-school qualifications and relevant work
experience, it will be difficult for emigrants to enter the technician/associate professional
occupations. Recognised middle-level skills in areas of demand are the best option for entry.
However, service-based work will also be a major source of employment in overseas labour
markets.
35 of 100
Attachment 3
Table A3.1: International Standard Classification of Occupations,
number of groups at each level: major (one-digit level), sub-major (twodigit level), minor (three-digit level), and unit groups (four-digit level)
Source: ILO, 2012, International Standard Classification of Occupations Structure, group definitions and
correspondence tables: ISCO-08 Volume 1, Table 3, p 22.
36 of 100
Chapter Four: Identifying skill shortages
Employer identified skill shortages
The most direct evidence of skill shortages is the decision by employers to import workers
with the skills they need. Information on the type of skills employers have imported at
considerable expense shows that the skills of these workers not available from the domestic
labour market. The skill sets employers are seeking, however, may not be only or solely
technical skills.
Information on the occupations of foreign workers from the census may be more accurate
than data from work visa applications as it has been provided directly by the foreign worker
and not the employer. Employers may seek visa approval for an occupation that is different to
the actual work they want the foreign worker to do. They may do this in the hope that the
occupation they have nominated is more likely not to have domestic applicants and hence to
be approved.
Table 12 below shows the occupational profile of the 882 foreign workers who responded to
the 2009 census questionnaire. The major skills sets that government and employers are
willing to pay to import are: managerial (22 per cent of all foreign workers), professional (17
per cent), craft & related trades (11 per cent) and the skills of technicians & associate
professionals (10 per cent). What is surprising is the large proportion of semi-skilled plant &
machine operators.
Table 12: Distribution of foreign workers by major occupation grouping,
Solomon Islands census 2009, per cent
Per cent
Major occupation groups, foreign workers
1 Managers
21.9
2 Professionals
17.2
3 Technicians & Associate Professionals
10.2
4 Clerical Support Workers
1.7
5 Services and Sales Workers
4.4
6 Skilled Agricultural, Forestry & Fishery Workers
4.8
7 Craft & Related Trades Workers
11.0
8 Plant & Machine Operators & Assemblers
25.1
9 Elementary Occupations
3.7
100
N
882
More information about the occupations of foreign workers at the two-digit ISCO level is
provided in Table A4.1 in the attachment to this chapter. More detail beyond this level of
detail on these occupations is not available as the job descriptions were only coded to the twodigit level. However, information from the coding system ISCO 88 on occupations at the
three-digit level gives some idea of what types of occupations are included in this group.
37 of 100
Table A4.2 in the attachment to this chapter shows the occupation groupings with the highest
proportion of foreign workers. These are: general managers with 15 per cent of their number
who are foreign-born, senior officials (8 per cent), corporate managers (8 per cent), machine
operators & assemblers (7 per cent), and drivers & mobile plant operators (6 per cent). Also
significant occupations employing foreign workers are: retail & other services managers (5
per cent), physical & engineering science technicians (4 per cent), metal machinery & related
workers (4 per cent), physical, mathematical & engineering science professionals (4 per cent),
information & communications technology professionals (4 per cent) and other associate
professionals (3 per cent).
It is possible to identify from this list where a marked presence of foreign workers suggest
that the domestic supply of skills training is inadequate. For the occupations up to the
technician & associate professional level, there are:

machine operators & assemblers,

drivers & mobile plant operators,

retail & other services managers,

physical & engineering science technicians, and

metal machinery & related workers.
Foreign workers in specific occupations
The design specification for Skilling Youth in the Pacific Program identifies engineering,
manufacturing, construction and maritime industries as a primary focus with education and
health sectors a secondary focus. Engineering-based occupations are the physical
mathematical & engineering science professionals and physical & engineering science
technicians.
According to the 2009 census data on foreign workers, there are 22 physical, mathematical &
engineering science professionals such as mechanical engineers and 43 physical &
engineering science technicians such as mechanical engineering technicians. The trade-related
occupations relevant to engineering/manufacturing are metal and machinery workers. The
number of foreign workers in this occupational group is 73.
These occupational groups are also relevant to the construction sector. The physical,
mathematical & engineering science professionals include civil engineers, architects and
surveyors. The technician-level skills include: civil engineering technicians, designers and
draughters of building plans. The number of foreign workers in trade-related occupations
relevant to this sector is only 18.
There are 24 life science & health professionals and only 4 life science and health associate
professionals. There are similarly low numbers for teaching professionals (23) and teaching
associate professionals.
38 of 100
Employer identified skills shortages
Two recent surveys provide valuable information about the skill shortages experienced by
employers. The first is a survey of employers by the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (SICCI). The second survey focuses in on the construction sector and was
undertaken for the Solomon Islands Built Environment Professionals Association (SIBEPA).
SICCI commissioned a survey of its members in 2011 and published a report entitled Skills in
Demand Report in January 2012. SICCI currently has about 100 members and is targeting an
additional 150 in time. Their membership ranges from small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
to larger businesses, with about half of its members categorised as SMEs. The 100 SICCI
members are said to have about 30,000 employees. However, this is most likely an
overestimate, as the overall size of the private sector according to the 2009 census is just on
30,000 employees. However, as noted above, the survey results only represent 30 members,
less than a third of the total membership.18 The survey does not report on the employment size
of the respondent firms and how their profile compares with the total population of SICCI
members. The fact that the survey only has a response rate of 30 per cent means that the
survey is not representative of all SCCI employers and may have certain biases such as only
covering some large firms.19
Figure 5: Jobs identified by SICCI members as most difficult to fill, Solomon
Islands 2011, per cent
This information is not reported in the write up of the survey results but provided by Mr Jerry Maiki
Tengemoamo, CEO of SICCI, 22 August, 2013.
19
It is worth noting that a survey conducted by SICCI in 2006 had a response rate of 63 per cent from a total
membership then of 73 active members. World Bank, 2007, Study to Support Development of a National Skills
Training Plan, Solomon Islands. Human Development Sector Reports, East Asia & Pacific Region, p 5-6.
18
39 of 100
The job functions employers find most difficult to fill are: accounting & finance, information
technology and construction & engineering. Employers nominated specific technical or other
skills they found hard to find. These skill shortages are prominent at the managerial,
professional and technician/associate professional levels. The demand for trade skills appear
to be much less important.
Table 13: Positions and specific skills employers find hard to fill, Solomon
Islands 2011, listed by ISCO skill level
Position
Specific Technical/other Skills
ISCO
Managerial
Managers & Team Heads
Leadership skills
12
Managers & Team Heads
People management skills
12
Manager
Soft-skills
12
Logistics Manager
Communication/Leadership of team
13
Human Resource Manager
General Human Resource matters
13
Human Resource Manager
Decision-making skills
13
Professional
Engineer- Electrical specialist Automotive manufacturing plants
21
Accountant
General accounting
24
Network Administrator
Specialising in network connectivity
25
Engineer
Mobile Network - Internet protocol
25
Psychologist counsellor
Trauma counselling
26
Technicians & Associate professionals
Marine Vessel Captain
Marine Engineering
31
Pilots
Civil Aviation
31
Technician
Formal training required
31
Lending Specialist
Corporate banking experiences
33
Trade Analyst
Trade and market analysis skill
33
Underwriter, Insurance
Some training in team work
33
Clerical Support Worker
Invoicing clerk
Skilled in special software
43
Sales worker
Sales Person
Interpersonal skills
52
Trades related worker
Gas Fitters
Level 1 & 2 gas fitter courses
71
Machinist Specialist
Installation, repairs & maintenance
72
Source: SICCI Survey 2012, Figure 12
40 of 100
The SICCI survey asked employers how many people they intended to recruit for what
positions in 2011 and 2012. The number of positions has been averaged over the two years.
The strongest demand is for positions in accounting & finance and banking & microfinance.
Vacancies in management positions and marketing, sales & customer services are also
prominent. However, the demand for positions related to construction is not as strong. Also
the manufacturing/industrial sector has a particularly low job vacancy rate.
Table 14: Average number of positions to be filled by employers in 2011 and
2012, Solomon Islands 2011
Job Function
Total
Accounting & Finance
39.5
Management
23.5
Banking & Microfinance
16.0
Marketing, Sales & Customer Services
12.0
Computers/IT
8.5
Human Resource Management
8.0
Construction & Engineering
7.5
Other
6.0
Manufacturing/Industrial
3.5
Logistics
1.5
Architecture & Design
1.0
Source: SICCI Survey 2012, Figures 15 & 16
SIBEPA Survey
Figure 6: Number of business activities undertaken by construction
enterprises surveyed, Solomon Islands 2011
41 of 100
A survey in 2011 of 161 enterprises engaged in a range of constructed-related activities
revealed that a total of 2,788 people were employed. A little less than half of the enterprises
surveyed undertook a range of activities and 86 enterprises specialised in one business activity
(see Figure 6). The construction enterprises were asked to say what positions they found most
difficult to fill. Near to half of the construction firms surveyed nominated designers as the
position they found most difficult to fill. This job title includes architects, draughters and selftaught computer assisted design (CAD) users. Only 121 enterprises responded with 156
nominated positions they found difficult to fill (see Figure 7). These responses, however, need
to be further cross-classified by the size of the enterprise to identify the skill needs of the
larger enterprises. It has been noted that only 22 enterprises are big and diverse enough to
need the position of site manager. So 17 out of 22 enterprises needing a site manager (77 per
cent) shows a much greater skills shortage problem than the initial results suggest.20
Figure 7: What are the most difficult positions to fill? Distribution of
responses from 121 construction enterprises, per cent, Solomon Islands 2011
Per cent
Construction positions difficult to fill
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
44
28
24
22
14
12
7
5
Conclusion
This chapter has looked at the direct evidence of skill shortages. Census data on the
occupations of foreign workers and the responses of employers to survey questions about
positions difficult to fill were used. The broad trend is skill shortages are more evident at the
managerial, professional and technician/associate professional levels and less at the trade
level, based on the census data on foreign workers and the SICCI survey of some 30
employers. However, the survey of construction enterprises did show that trade level positions
are hard to fill, second to designers and draughters. Nevertheless, the actual number of
responses from enterprises having trouble filling trade positions was only 34. The following
chapter makes use of census data to provide information on skills gaps in the existing
workforce.
I am grateful to Luke McNamara for highlighting this point to me in a personal communication, 21 August
2013.
20
42 of 100
43 of 100
Attachment 4
Table A4.1: The number of foreign workers in each occupation group, ISCO
88 sub-major-major groups, Solomon Islands 2009
ISCO 88 sub-major group
N
ISCO 88 sub-major group
N
11 Legislators & senior officials
83
44 Other clerical support workers
1
12 Corporate managers
58
51 Personal & protective services
workers
11
13 General Managers
34
52 Salespersons
22
14 Retail & other services manager
18
54 Protective service workers
6
21 Physical mathematical &
engineering science professionals
22
61 Market oriented skilled
agricultural & fishery worker
6
22 Life science & health
professionals
24
62 Subsistence agricultural & fishery
workers
23
23 Teaching professionals
23
63 Subsistence farmers fishers
hunters & gathers
13
24 Other professionals
47
71 Extraction & building trade
workers
18
25 Information & communications
technology professionals
2
72 Metal machinery & related
workers
73
26 Legal social & cultural
professionals
34
74 Other craft & related trades
workers
4
31 Physical & engineering science
technicians
43
75 Food processing wood working
garment & other craft & related
2
32 Life science & health associate
professionals (except nursing)
4
81 Stationery plant & related
operators
22
33 Teaching associate professionals
19
82 Machine operators & assemblers
6
34 Other associate professionals
23
83 Drivers & mobile plant operators
193
35 Information & communications
technicians
1
91 Sales & services elementary
occupations
18
41 Office Clerks
4
92 Agricultural fishery & related
labourers
11
42 Customer service clerks
3
93 Labourers in mining construction
manufacturing & transport
3
43 Numerical & material recording
clerks
7
96 Refuse workers & other
elementary workers
1
44 of 100
Table A4.2: Proportion of foreign workers in each skills-based occupational
grouping, Solomon Islands census 2009
Per
cent
N
13 General Managers
14.8
229
11 Legislators and senior officials
8.4
988
12 Corporate managers
7.8
747
82 Machine operators and assemblers
7.2
83
83 Drivers and mobile plant operators
5.9
3,280
14 Retail and other services manager
5.3
341
31 Physical and engineering science technicians
4.3
999
72 Metal machinery and related workers
3.9
1,876
21 Physical mathematical and engineering science professionals
3.8
583
25 Information and communications technology professionals
3.8
53
34 Other associate professionals
3.0
769
24 Other professionals
2.7
1,744
26 Legal social and cultural professionals
2.1
1,606
33 Teaching associate professionals
1.8
1,072
22 Life science and health professionals
1.6
1,525
81 Stationery plant and related operators
1.2
1,834
32 Life science and health associate professionals (except nursing)
0.8
473
41 Office Clerks
0.7
543
75 Food processing wood working garment & other craft related
0.7
2,279
44 Other clerical support workers
0.6
181
35 Information and communications technicians
0.5
187
43 Numerical and material recording clerks
0.5
1,363
42 Customer service clerks
0.4
686
52 Models salespersons and demonstrators
0.4
5,197
23 Teaching professionals
0.3
7,773
71 Extraction and building trade workers
0.6
2,788
74 Other craft and related trades workers
0.2
301
ISCO 88 sub-major occupational groups
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Chapter Five: Identifying the skills gap
The approach used in this report to identifying skills gaps is to make use of information from
the census on whether jobholders in specific occupations have post-school qualifications or
not. It is not possible given available data nor is it necessary to work out whether the postschool qualification is matched to the occupation as mismatches between qualifications and
jobs are common.21
Post-school qualifications are important requirements for most, if not all jobs at the
professional and the technician/associate professional levels. Most professions require a postschool qualification. For health professionals, teachers, science & engineering professionals in
particular, most of those working in these occupations could be expected to have a postschool qualification.
The challenge is to find a reference point for working out what is the appropriate qualification
level expected for a specific occupation group. The next chapter uses two reference points to
do this. One is to compare the qualifications of foreign workers with the domestic workforce
in an occupation group to identify the skills gap. The second is to look at Australian data on
occupations and qualifications. This provides an international measure of the skills gap for
specific occupations between Solomon Islanders and the largest labour market in the
immediate region.
In this chapter, the initial step is to simply look closely at the share of the Solomon Islands
workforce with post-school qualifications in each major occupation and to note what share of
each skills-based occupation has post-school qualifications. The second step is to note the
education levels of those without a post-school qualification to identify the extent of the skills
gap.
Education/skills gap in generic professional occupations
First, the focus is on generic skills-based occupations relevant to a range of sectors. Other
skills-based occupation groups, more relevant to specific sectors, are reported in the section
on specific industry sectors. Table A5.1 in the attachment to this chapter presents summary
information on the proportion of the workforce with post-school qualifications in each of submajor occupational groupings for professionals, associate professional, clerical support and
trade-related work. Table A5.2 in the attachment reports on ten levels of education attainment
and the number of job incumbents in each occupational group. The following tables for
professional occupations reduce the reported levels of post-school qualifications to one
summary statistic. However, the levels of education level below this are given to show the gap
between those with a post-school qualification and those without.
The ISCO 88 Other professionals group includes: accountants, personnel and careers
professionals, business professionals not elsewhere classified. The largest proportion (43 per
cent) of these professionals have a post-school qualification. However, one-in-five (19 per
cent) have completed only Form 5 and one-in-ten (12 per cent) have only completed Form 3.
Quintini, G, 2011, ‘Right for the job: over-qualified or under-skilled?’ OECD Social, Employment and
Migration Working Papers No. 120, Organisation for Cooperation and Development, Paris.
21
46 of 100
Sub-major occupation
24 Other professionals
LT
Completed
primary
Completed Completed Completed Form 6 & Post-school
completed primary
Form 3
Form 5
7
qualification
2.8
10.4
11.7
18.6
11.8
42.8
Total
N
100
1,744
Information & communications technology professionals include software and applications
developers and analysts and database and network professionals. It includes specifically
systems analysts, software developers, web and multimedia developers and applications
programmers. The largest group (51 per cent) of these professionals have a post-school
qualification. One-in-five (19 per cent) have completed only Form 5 and one-in-ten have only
completed Form 3.
Sub-major occupation
25 Information &
communications technology
professionals
LT
Completed
primary
Completed Completed Completed Form 6 & Post-school
completed primary
Form 3
Form 5
7
qualification
0.0
3.8
9.4
18.9
15.1
50.9
Total
N
100
53
This occupation group based on ISCO 08 includes lawyers, economists and religious
professionals. The largest proportion has only completed primary school, with one-in-four
with a post-school qualification.
Sub-major occupation
26 Legal, social & cultural
professionals
LT
Completed
primary
Completed Completed Completed Form 6 & Post-school
completed primary
Form 3
Form 5
7
qualification
9.8
31.4
15.3
9.3
4.5
26.5
Total
N
100
1,606
Education/skills gap in the technician and associate professional occupations
Other associate professionals in ISCO 88 includes: insurance representatives, estate agents,
travel consultants and organisers, trade brokers, clearing and forwarding agents, employment
agents and labour contractors, administrative secretaries and related associate professionals,
bookkeepers, customs and border inspectors, government social benefits officials, government
licensing officials and police inspectors and detectives. The largest education group, near to
one-in-three (32 per cent) have completed primary school only. A mere one-in-six (17 per
cent) have post-school qualifications.
Sub-major occupation
34 Other associate
professionals
LT
Completed
primary
Completed Completed Completed Form 6 & Post-school
completed primary
Form 3
Form 5
7
qualification
17.3
31.6
16.1
10.4
4.3
16.6
Total
N
100
769
This occupation group based on ISCO 08 includes Information and communications
47 of 100
technology operations technicians, Information and communications technology user support
technicians, Computer network and systems technicians and web technicians. The largest
education group, one-in-three (32 per cent) has post-school qualifications, followed by one-infive (22 per cent) with Form 6 or 7. Close to one-in-five (19 per cent) have only completed
Form 5 and one-in-six (16 per cent) have only completed primary school or less.
Sub-major occupation
35 Information and
communications technicians
LT
Completed
primary
Completed Completed Completed Form 6 & Post-school
completed primary
Form 3
Form 5
7
qualification
5.9
9.1
8.6
18.7
21.9
31.6
Total
N
100
187
Qualifications profile of selected industry sectors
Specific industry sectors have been nominated by the design specification for the proposed
Skilling Youth in the Pacific program. These are: engineering/manufacturing, construction and
maritime as a primary focus with education and health sectors as a secondary focus. Census
data on two-digit industry sectors by level of education attainment offers information about
the qualifications held by people working in the above sectors.
Construction
The largest industry sector is construction with 8,604 employed. The census divides this
industry into three two-digit sectors: construction of buildings, civil engineering and
specialised construction activities. The first sector, construction of buildings, with 8,070 in
employment has nine (9) per cent of its workforce with a post-school qualification. The civil
engineering sector, with only 283 employed has 16 per cent of its workforce with a postschool qualification. The specialised construction activities sector has 251 employed with 16
per cent of its workforce with a post-school qualification.
The following table presents data from the relevant two-digit occupation classifications for
the construction industry’s three sectors. Only one-in-three (34 per cent) of physical,
mathematical & engineering science professionals have a post-school qualification. The
proportion of physical & engineering science technicians with a post-school qualification is
lower at a quarter (25 per cent). Only one-in-ten (9 per cent) of extraction and building trade
workers have a post-school qualification.
Relevant construction
occupations
LT
Completed
primary
Completed Completed Completed Form 6 & Post school
completed primary
Form 3
Form 5
7
qualification
Total
N
21 Physical, mathematical
& engineering science
professionals
9.1
18.4
11.7
16.6
7.0
34.1
100
583
31 Physical & engineering
science technicians
10.3
20.9
16.5
16.6
6.4
25.0
100
999
71 Extraction and building
trade workers
25.5
38.2
15.9
7.4
1.8
9.0
100
8,787
The shares of qualified employees in construction are confirmed by the SIBEPA construction
sector survey. The survey collected data on the number of employees in each job function who
48 of 100
are qualified. The results are reported below in Figure 8.
Figure 8: Proportion of employees in specific job functions in the construction
sector who are qualified, Solomon Islands 2011, per cent
These results show a low proportion of trades workers who are qualified, compared with
directors, managers, admin/finance, procurement, designers and site managers.
In relation to an expected skills profile used below for a large road construction project, a
quarter of a civil engineering project’s workforce should be skilled at trade, technician,
professional or managerial level. It can be assumed also that all of these skilled workers
should have a post-school qualification.
A further breakdown of education level shows that most of the post-school qualifications are
vocational certificates or college/no degree. Civil engineering has twelve degree holders
(bachelors and master degrees), or 4 per cent of that sectors workforce. The construction of
buildings sector has 41 jobholders with a degree or higher, only 0.5 per cent of the workforce
in that sector. Only three jobholders in the specialised construction activities sector have a
degree.
Construction
industry sectors
41 Construction of
buildings
per cent
42 Civil engineering
per cent
43 Specialised
construction
activities
per cent
Some
College/
No
degree
Bachelors Masters Doctoral
degree
degree degree
VocatOther Post
ional
school
certificate
qual
203
34
5
2
474
182
2.5
0.4
0.1
0.0
5.9
2.3
26
9
3
0
8
5
9.2
3.2
1.1
0.0
2.8
1.8
25
3
0
0
11
4
10.0
1.2
0.0
0.0
4.4
1.6
49 of 100
N
8070
8.9
283
16.3
251
15.5
Manufacturing
The largest sector manufacturing in terms of employment is the manufacture of food products,
with 1,708 in employment. Most of these are employees of the tuna processing factory, now
in 2013 at 1,500 or so. Only 5 per cent have a post-school qualification. The next largest
sector is ‘Other manufacturing’ with 674 in employment with 4 per cent with a post school
qualification.
However, other manufacturing sectors do have higher proportions with post-school
qualifications. These are: manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products; manufacture of
pharmaceuticals medicinal chemicals and botanical products; printing and reproduction of
recorded media; and manufacture of basic metals with 35, 26, 25, and 23 per cent
respectively. The numbers employed in each respective sector are relatively small: 142, 50,
76, and 53 (see Table A in the attachment for specific details of the post-school qualifications
of each manufacturing sector).
The two-digit occupation data provide a big picture view of the relevant occupations for
manufacturing. The above two occupation groups physical, mathematical & engineering
science professionals and physical & engineering science technicians are relevant to the
manufacturing, with a third and a quarter of their respective occupation groups with postschool qualifications. Reported below is the education attainment profile of metal machinery
and related workers. Only just under one-in-five (18 per cent) have a post-school
qualification.
Trade-related occupations
relevant to manufacturing
LT
Completed Completed Completed Completed Post school
primary
primary
Form 3
Form 5
Form 6 & qualification
completed
7
72 Metal machinery and
related workers
12.5
29.9
21.2
12.0
3.5
18.2
Total
N
100
1,876
Two important sectors that make extensive use of engineering skills are ‘Electricity gas steam
and air conditioning supply’ and the ‘Repair and installation of machinery and equipment’.
These two sectors have a high proportion of their workforces with post-school qualifications,
24 and 16 per cent respectively.
Industry sector
33 Repair &
installation of
machinery &
equipment
Per cent
35 Electricity gas
steam & air
conditioning supply
Per cent
Some
Bachelors Masters Doctoral Vocational Other Post
College/No degree
degree degree certificate
school
degree
qual
31
3
3
0
25
8
7.7
0.7
0.7
0.0
6.2
2.0
64
6
3
4
14
7
17.2
1.6
0.8
1.1
3.8
1.9
50 of 100
N
401
15.5
373
24.4
51 of 100
The relevant education attainment profile for relevant professional and technician level
occupations has already been presented above. The relevant trade-level occupation group is
metal machinery and related workers. This group includes electrical mechanics and fitters,
electronics mechanics and servicers, telegraph and telephone installers and servicers, and
electrical line installers, repairers and cable jointers.
The education sector
The education and health sectors have large workforces who also are more likely to have a
post-school qualification. In education, some 44 per cent have a post-school qualification,
mostly ‘some college, no degree’. It is important to note that the census category is not
referring to not having completed a degree but to having a qualification below degree level.
However, ‘some college, no degree’ is likely to refer to a qualification below degree level
rather than an incomplete degree. The major skills gap in the education sector is in the large
proportion of the workforce, over half, who do not have a post-school qualification.
Industry sector Some
Bachelors Masters Doctoral Vocational Other
College/No degree
degree degree certificate
degree
85 Education
2,753
389
75
9
136
154
Per cent
35.7
5.0
1.0
0.1
1.8
2.0
86 Human
Health activities
536
92
25
32
32
43
Per cent
28.1
4.8
1.3
1.7
1.7
2.3
Post
school
qual
N
7,706
43.6
1,907
37.6
Data is not available from the census about the number of primary, secondary and tertiary
teachers, as this level of detail is only available at the three-digit level. It is likely that many of
the teachers without post-school qualifications are primary teachers. This is confirmed by data
from the National Provident Fund (NPF) for 2006 that 84 per cent of those registered with the
NPF are primary teachers and only 10 per cent are secondary teachers.
Table 15: Number and distribution of teachers by education level,
Solomon Islands, 2006, per cent
Occupation
N
per cent
Tertiary Teachers
185
3.7
Secondary Education Teachers
491
9.9
4,164
83.6
138
2.8
4,978
100
Primary Education Teachers
Pre-Primary Education Teachers
Source: National Provident Fund 2006
The NPF only lists just under 5,000 teachers in 2006 compared with a census count in 2009 of
7,773 recorded as teachers in the occupation data and 7,706 recorded as workforce in the
52 of 100
education sector. The two-digit occupation data from the census also shows there are 1,072
teaching associate professionals. These differences in teacher counts may be due to the
exclusion of some teachers from the NPF due to coverage by another scheme. The NPF data
may not include teachers in church schools for example. The education level of those working
in the education sector is shown in the table below. Most of those working in the sector
without a post-school qualification have less than secondary school completed. One-in-four
have completed Form 5 and just over one-in-ten (12 per cent) have only completed Form 3.
As many as 7 per cent have only completed primary school or less.
Industry
sector
Less than Completed Completed Completed Completed Completed
primary primary
Form 3
Form 5
Form 6
Form 7
completed
85 Education
Per cent
134
438
926
2009
585
98
1.7
5.7
12.0
26.1
7.6
1.3
N
7,706
The health sector
The proportion in the health sector with a post-school qualification is 38 per cent. The
following table provides information on the specific occupations related to health, available
from the NPF for 2006. The total for the 2006 NPF is similar to the census data for the sector
of 1,907. The largest number are nursing aides who are not likely to have a post-school
qualification. However, a range of occupations can be expected to have a post-school
qualification: dentists, medical doctors, pharmacists, professional nurses, physiotherapists &
occupational therapists, laboratory technicians, life science (malaria) technicians and medical
x-ray technicians.
Table 16: Number of jobholders in professional, technician and associate
professional occupations related to the health sector, Solomon Islands 2009
Health occupations
N
Health occupations
N
Dentists
20
Medical X-Ray
Technicians
37
Medical Doctors
68
Student Nurses
224
Pharmacists
20
Dental Assistants
29
Professional Nurses
508
Health Inspectors
79
Physiotherapists &
Occupational Therapists
22
Nursing Aides
651
Laboratory Technicians
19
Pharmaceutical
Assistants
13
Life Science (Malaria)
125
Total 1,815
An education profile is available only for these broad occupational groups. Less than half of
life science and health professionals (47 per cent) have a post-school qualification. Only a
third (33 per cent) of life science and health associate professionals (except nursing) have a
post-school qualification.
53 of 100
Occupation
22 Life science & health
professionals
32 Life science & health
associate professionals
(except nursing)
LT
Completed
primary
Completed Completed Completed Form 6 & Post school
completed primary
Form 3
Form 5
7
qualification
Total
N
1.6
9.4
17.2
17.5
5.2
46.6
100
1,525
4.7
13.3
19.9
18.2
8.7
33.2
100
473
Conclusion
This chapter has looked at the education profile of skills-based occupations from professional
to technician & associate professional and trade level jobs. The level of education attainment,
in most cases, is far below what could be expected, especially at the professional and subprofessional levels. Chapter Six offers a more precise measure of the skills gap by looking at
the difference between the difference between foreign and domestic workers in terms of share
of post-school qualifications held.
54 of 100
Attachment 5
Table 5.1: Sub-major occupations (ISCO 88) with proportion of jobholders
with post-school qualifications, per cent, Solomon Islands 2009
ISCO 88 occupation group
Per cent
ISCO 88 occupation group
Per cent
11 Legislators and senior officials
50
33 Teaching associate professionals
30
12 Corporate managers
45
34 Other associate professionals ie
business & administrative
17
13 General Managers
43
35 Information and communications
technicians
32
14 Retail and other services manager
29
41 Office Clerks
31
21 Science and engineering
professionals
34
42 Customer service clerks
17
22 Life science and health
professionals
47
43 Numerical and material recording
clerks
13
23 Teaching professionals
45
44 Other clerical support workers
20
24 Other professionals
43
71 Extraction and building trade
workers
9
25 Information and communications
technology professionals
51
72 Metal machinery and related
workers
18
26 Legal, social, cultural
professionals
27
73 Precision handicrafts printing and
related workers
3
31 Physical and engineering science
technicians
25
74 Other craft and related trades
workers
33
32 Life science and health associate
professionals (except nursing)
33
75 Food processing wood working
garment and other craft and related
4
55 of 100
Table A5.1: Education profile of skills-based occupations, ISCO 88 sub-major groupings, Solomon Islands census 2009, per cent
Professional & associate
professional occupations
LT primary Completed Completed
completed primary
Form 3
Completed
some
Completed Completed College/No Degree &
Form 5
Form 6 & 7 degree
above
Vocational
certificate
Other
Post school
qualification
Total
N
21 Science & engineering
professionals
9.1
18.4
11.7
16.6
7.0
17.3
13.6
3.3
3.1
34.1
100
583
22 Life science & health
professionals
1.6
9.4
17.2
17.5
5.2
33.8
11.4
1.4
2.4
46.6
100
1525
23 Teaching professionals
1.3
4.7
11.9
26.7
9.1
37.0
6.0
1.6
1.6
44.6
100
7773
24 Business & admin
professionals
2.8
10.4
11.7
18.6
11.8
26.0
15.7
1.1
1.9
42.8
100
1744
25 ICT professionals
0.0
3.8
9.4
18.9
15.1
30.2
18.9
1.9
1.9
50.9
100
53
26 Legal social cultural
professionals
9.8
31.4
15.3
9.3
4.5
13.3
11.8
1.4
3.2
26.5
100
1606
31 Physical & engineering
science technicians
10.3
20.9
16.5
16.6
6.4
15.1
6.8
3.1
4.2
25.0
100
999
32 Life science & health
associate professionals (except
nursing)
4.7
13.3
19.9
18.2
8.7
26.0
5.3
1.9
2.1
33.2
100
473
33 Teaching associate
professionals
5.3
18.4
17.6
17.2
9.0
20.6
8.3
1.0
2.5
29.9
100
1072
34 Other associate professionals
17.3
31.6
16.1
10.4
4.3
9.1
5.7
1.8
3.6
16.6
100
769
35 Information & communication
specialists
5.9
9.1
8.6
18.7
21.9
16.0
12.3
3.2
4.3
31.6
100
187
Clerical support occupations
LT primary Completed Completed
completed primary
Form 3
Completed
some
Completed Completed College/No Degree &
Form 5
Form 6 & 7 degree
above
Vocational
certificate
Other
Post school
qualification
Total
N
41 Office Clerks
2.6
15.8
20.1
21.4
7.6
21.0
6.6
2.9
2.0
30.6
100
543
42 Customer service clerks
5.5
17.6
17.2
25.5
14.3
12.4
4.2
0.7
2.5
17.3
100
686
43 Numerical and material
recording clerks
3.4
18.9
28.9
25.5
8.0
10.6
0.8
1.8
2.1
13.2
100
1363
44 Other clerical support workers
6.1
17.1
17.1
27.6
9.9
12.2
7.2
0.6
2.2
19.9
100
181
Trade-related occupations
LT primary Completed Completed
completed primary
Form 3
Completed
some
Completed Completed College/No Degree &
Form 5
Form 6 & 7 degree
above
Vocational
certificate
Other
Post school
qualification
Total
N
71 Extraction and building trade
workers
25.5
38.2
15.9
7.4
1.8
2.6
0.4
6.0
2.2
9.0
100
8787
72 Metal machinery and related
workers
12.5
29.9
21.2
12.0
3.5
8.7
1.0
8.5
2.7
18.2
100
1876
73 Precision handicrafts printing
and related workers
38.8
39.9
10.9
4.4
1.2
1.1
0.1
1.5
2.0
2.7
100
2118
74 Other craft and related trades
workers
5.6
17.6
18.6
18.9
5.6
23.6
4.0
5.0
1.0
32.6
100
301
75 Food processing wood
working garment and other craft
and related
27.0
40.5
16.8
6.7
1.8
1.7
0.2
2.3
3.0
4.2
100
2279
Chapter Six: Measuring the Skill gap
As noted in the introduction to Chapter Five, a useful way to assess the extent to which postschool qualifications are desirable or necessary for specific occupations is to note what
proportion of foreign workers in that occupation have a post-school qualification. If
Employers at considerable cost to their operations bring in foreign workers with post-school
qualifications, then it can be assumed that these qualifications are needed to do the work.
Table A6.1 in the attachment to this chapter compares the post-school qualifications profile of
foreign workers with that of domestic workers in each major occupation group.
Skill gaps exist for particular occupations where there is a notable difference between the
proportion of foreign and domestic workers with post-school qualifications. Figure 9 below
list the occupations where the skills gap is greatest. Small numbers of foreign workers have
been omitted and a minimum of 18 has been used to give statistical stability to the result.
Figure 9: The difference in proportion of foreign and domestic workers with
post-school qualifications, Solomon Islands 2009, per cent
Skills gap: qualifications difference between foreign &
domestic workers
Per cent
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
62
26 Legal, social, & cultural professionals
53
22 Life science & health professionals
52
71 Extraction & building trade workers
49
34 Other associate professionals
47
23 Teaching professionals
32
14 Retail & other services manager
30
21 Science & engineering professionals
25
24 Other professionals
24
81 Stationery plant & related operators
33 Teaching associate professionals
23
11 Legislators & senior officials
22
13 General Managers
22
17
31 Physical & engineering science technicians
12 Corporate managers
70
2
The largest skill gaps
Looking at the occupations with the largest skill gaps, Legal, social, & cultural professionals
ranks at the top with the largest gap. Data from the NPF 2006 shows which occupations fall
within this sub-major grouping and the number of jobholders in each occupation at that time.
Table 17: Number of jobholders in specific occupations, legal, social &
religious professionals, National Provident Fund contributors, Solomon
Islands 2006
Occupation
Male
Female Total
Authors, Journalists & Related Workers
15
9
24
Economists
5
1
6
Judges
7
Jurists Not Elsewhere Classified
1
1
2
Lawyers
23
11
34
Social Workers
66
61
127
Statisticians
19
3
22
Ministers of Religion
300
8
308
7
The largest occupation is ministers of religion. It is likely that most Solomon Islands
incumbents of this occupation lack post-school qualifications compared with their foreign
counterparts. Life science and health professionals are the next largest group with a skills gap.
This group consists of dentists, medical doctors, pharmacists, professional nurses,
veterinarians, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. The largest occupation is
professional nursing and it is most likely that it is this occupation that is underqualified,
compared with their foreign counterparts. In Australia, according to the 2011 census, virtually
all professional nurses (97 per cent) have a post-school qualification.
Table 18: Number of jobholders in specified occupations, Life science & health
professionals, National Provident Fund contributors, Solomon Islands 2006
Occupation
Male
Female Total
Dentists
13
7
20
Medical Doctors
55
13
68
Pharmacists
8
12
20
182
326
508
Professional Nurses
Veterinarians
3
Physiotherapists & Occupational
Therapists
15
3
7
22
The next largest skills gap is for extraction and building trades workers. The largest
occupation within this group is carpentry and joinery. Plumbers and pipe fitters are the second
largest occupation. These occupations in particular are likely to lack post-school qualifications
compared with foreign workers in the same occupations. In Australia, in 2011, three quarters
of carpenters and joiners (76 per cent) and plumbers (78 per cent) had a post-school
qualification. In Australia, near to two-in-three painting trades workers (65 per cent) and over
half of plasterers (54 per cent) have a post-school qualification.
59 of 100
Table 19: Number of jobholders in specified occupations, building
trades workers, National Provident Fund contributors, Solomon Islands
2006
Occupation
Male
Female Total
Carpenters & Joiners
1,801
15
1,816
Painters, Construction
58
1
59
Plasterers & Blocklayers
19
Plumbers & pipe Fitters
146
Structural Metal Preparers & Erectors
19
2
8
148
8
Other associate professionals, the occupation group with the next largest skills gap, refer to
people working mainly as police officers & detectives, followed by clerical supervisors,
health inspectors and personal secretaries. These occupations are usually found within a large
internal labour market such as the police or the civil service. Promotion to positions within an
internal labour market is usually based not on external qualifications but in-house training and
examinations. However, in Australia and New Zealand, there has been a recent trend away
from reliance on internal training to increased use of externally certified qualifications. 22 The
large skills gap for this occupation group is likely to reflect these two different approaches to
recognising skills within internal labour markets.
Table 20: Number of jobholders in specified occupations, other associate
professionals, National Provident Fund contributors, Solomon Islands 2006
Occupation
Male
Female Total
Clerical Supervisors
91
28
119
Health Inspectors
64
15
79
Personal Secretaries
27
63
90
1,187
85
1,272
5
1
6
Policemen & Detectives
Produce Inspectors (Agriculture)
Teaching professionals have the next largest skills gap. The largest number of teachers within
this grouping is primary teachers and this group of teachers are least likely to have postschool qualifications. The educational profile of teaching professionals show that only one-infive have completed Form 5, 12 per cent have completed only Form 3 and 6 per cent have
completed primary school only or less (see Table 22). This education profile of teachers,
which probably applies to primacy school teachers, may be a large part of the explanation of
the poor literacy performance of Solomon Islands schools noted in the World Bank report
Skills for Solomon Islands: Opening New Opportunities and the Literacy survey results noted
in Chapter Two above.
The 2011 Australian census shows that four-out-of-five (78 per cent) police in Australia now have a postschool qualification.
22
60 of 100
Table 21: Number of jobholders in specified occupations, teaching
professionals, National Provident Fund contributors, Solomon Islands 2006
Occupation
Male
Female
Total
Education Advisors
27
11
38
Secondary Education Teachers
317
174
491
Tertiary Teachers
120
65
185
Pre-Primary Education Teachers
49
89
138
2,426
1,738
4,164
Primary Education Teachers
Table 22: Education profile of teaching professionals, Solomon Islands census
2009, per cent
Professional & associate
professional occupations
Completed Completed Post-school
Form 5
Form 6 & 7 quals
LT primary Completed Completed
completed primary
Form 3
23 Teaching professionals
1.3
4.7
11.9
26.7
9.1
44.6
N
7,773
Retail and other services managers include mainly managers of catering and lodgings, and
managers in wholesale and retail. Solomon Islanders in these positions have a large skill gap
compared with their foreign counterparts.
Table 23: Number of jobholders in specified occupations, retail & other
services managers, National Provident Fund contributors, Solomon Islands
2006
Occupation
Male
Female
Total
Managers (Catering & Lodging Services)
73
15
88
Managers (Wholesale & Retail Trade)
108
20
128
Working Proprietors (Catering & Lodging)
13
13
Table 24: Number of jobholders in specified occupations, science &
engineering professionals, National Provident Fund contributors, Solomon
Islands 2006
Occupation
Male
Female
Total
Agronomists & Related Scientists
2
Architects
13
1
14
Biologist, Zoologist related Scientists
7
1
8
Chemist
4
4
Civil Engineers
21
21
Electrical Engineers
50
Geologists
18
Mechanical Engineers
218
61 of 100
2
1
51
18
11
229
Other Engineers
130
8
138
Bacteriologists
9
3
12
349
6
355
Surveyors
Science and engineering professionals include the following occupations in Solomon Islands.
Surveyors and engineers are the largest numbers of jobholders (see Table 24). Most or nearly
all jobholders in these occupations could be expected to have post-school qualifications. This
is confirmed by the fact that all foreign workers is Solomon Islands in these occupations have
a post-school qualification. In Australia, 2011 census data for Australia show that 88 per cent
of architects, designers, planners and surveyors have a post-school qualification and 94 per
cent of engineers do (see Table 25). A serious skills gap exists where Solomon Islands
jobholders in these occupations do not have a post-school qualification.
Table 25: Proportion of jobholders in Australia in specified occupations with
post-school qualifications, per cent, Australia 2011
Australian occupations ANZSCO
Per cent
232 Architects, Designers, Planners and Surveyors
88.2
233 Engineering Professionals
94.3
Source: Australian Census of Population & Housing 2011
The ‘other professionals’ sub-major group refers to accountants, financial and investment
advisers, environmental and occupational health and hygiene professionals, personnel and
careers professionals and training and staff development professionals. The only relevant
occupation noted in the NPF data is accountants and auditors. Most accountants classified as
professionals should have a post-school qualification. In Australia, nine-out-ten of
professional accounts have a post-school qualification (92 per cent) and company auditors
have a similar proportion (86 per cent) with post-school qualifications.
Table 26: Number of accountants & auditors, National Provident Fund
contributors, Solomon Islands 2006
Occupation
Accountants & Auditors
Male
Female
Total
253
143
396
Human resource managers may or may not have a post-school qualification, especially if the
function is limited in small enterprises to a payroll clerical function. In Australia, three-out-of
-four human resource professionals (75 per cent) have a post-school qualification.
Physical & engineering science technicians
Passing over in the above listing in Figure 9 of occupations with skills gaps the remaining
occupations of stationery plant & related operators, teaching associate professionals,
legislators & senior officials, general and corporate managers, the final occupation with a
skills gap of particular relevance to this assignment is physical & engineering science
technicians. Details of numbers employed in specific occupations in 2006 that comprise this
occupational grouping are shown Table 27 below.
62 of 100
The total number in these technician and associate professional occupations in the NPF listing
is 767 compared with 999 in the 2009 census count. So it appears that either the number in
this occupation group has increased between 2006 and 2009, or the NPF data do not provide a
complete count (one-in-ten NPF contributors had an unknown occupation).
Table 27: Number of jobholders in specified occupations, physical &
engineering science technicians, National Provident Fund contributors,
Solomon Islands 2006
Occupation
Male
Female
Total
Production Supervisors & General
Foreman
46
3
49
Aircraft Pilots & Navigators
36
3
39
Bosuns
30
Civil Engineering Technicians
21
2
23
Draughtsman
26
4
30
Other Engineering Technicians
117
8
125
Physical Science Technicians
19
5
24
Ship Deck Officers & Pilots
176
1
177
Ship Engineers (including Shore-based)
44
1
45
Mechanical Engineering Technicians
218
7
225
30
In total, only a quarter (25 per cent) of Solomon Islanders working as physical and
engineering science technicians have a post-school qualification compared with 42 per cent of
foreign workers in the same occupation grouping. However, the skills gap is even greater if
Australian workers in the same occupations are used as the reference point.
It is not clear which of the above specific occupations from the NPF listing do not have postschool qualifications compared with their foreign counterparts. Table 28 presents Australian
data for the similar occupations as a reference point. As many as 85 per cent or more of
electrical, electronic and mechanical engineering technicians have a post-school qualification
and three quarters (75 per cent) of Civil Engineering Draftspersons and Technicians have a
post-school qualification. Nine-out-of-ten marine professionals (88 per cent) have a postschool qualification.
Chapter Seven looks at the future skill needs of the Solomon Islands economy.
63 of 100
Table 28: Proportion of jobholders in Australia in specified occupations with
post-school qualifications, per cent, Australia 2011
Australian occupations ANZSCO
Per cent
3122 Civil Engineering Draftspersons & Technicians
75.1
3123 Electrical Engineering Draftspersons & Technicians
88.4
3124 Electronic Engineering Draftspersons & Technicians
85.5
3125 Mechanical Engineering Draftspersons & Technicians
86.9
3126 Safety Inspectors
84.5
2312 Marine Transport Professionals
87.9
64 of 100
Attachment 6
Table A6.1: The proportion of foreign and domestic workers with post-school
qualifications in each occupational group, Solomon Islands 2009, per cent,
(number of foreign workers 18 & over in each occupation)
ISCO 88 sub-major groups
Foreign
workers
with postschool
quals
Domestic
workers
with postschool
quals
Difference
11 Legislators & senior officials
72
50
22
12 Corporate managers
47
45
2
13 General Managers
65
43
22
14 Retail & other services manager
61
29
32
21 Science & engineering professionals
64
34
30
22 Life science & health professionals
100
47
53
23 Teaching professionals
91
45
47
24 Other professionals
68
43
25
26 Legal, social, & cultural professionals
88
27
62
31 Physical & engineering science technicians
42
25
17
33 Teaching associate professionals
53
30
23
34 Other associate professionals
65
17
49
52 Models salespersons & demonstrators
41
5
36
54 Protective service workers
50
5
45
71 Extraction & building trade workers
61
9
52
72 Metal machinery & related workers
10
18
-9
81 Stationery plant & related operators
27
3
24
83 Drivers & mobile plant operators
5
5
0
91 Sales & services elementary occupations
39
2
37
65 of 100
Chapter Seven: Future skill needs
The issue of how to forecast future demand for skills is a complex one. It is not possible
simply to take past trends and project them into the future. Sector forecasts of workers with
specific technical skills was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but were rejected in the 1980s
due to the rigidity of the method used.
Manpower planning generally assumed a fixed relationship between labor
and outputs, implicitly ruling out technological change. It also emphasised
technical skills to the detriment of cognitive and social skills. And it was
slow to adapt to rapid changes in the world of work...23
The OECD’s major review of TVET in 2010 called Learning for Jobs noted that:
...the shape of future labour market needs is inevitably misty. The challenge
is to identify what can reasonably be predicted some years into the future,
and what cannot.24
The World Bank concludes its note on the limitations of manpower planning with this
comment: ‘...perhaps the most valuable lesson from East Asian countries is that skillsdevelopment systems need to grow organically from below while being coordinated and
fostered from above’.25
Forecasting the skill needs of the Solomon Islands economy cannot be based on a projection
of past trends. One guide to the future is the age structure of the workforce.
Future skill shortages due to replacement demand
The age structure of the non-farm occupation profile can help identify which occupations
have a larger share of older workers who will need to be replaced on retirement.
World Bank, 2012, World Development Report 2013: Jobs. Washington DC, Box 5.8, p 177
OECD, 2010. Learning for Jobs: Synthesis Report of the OECD Reviews of Vocational Education & Training.
p 57.
25
See Note 39.
23
24
66 of 100
Table 29: Older age profile of the skills-based occupations, Solomon Islands
census 2009, per cent of each occupation group
Older workers
Skill-based occupations
50-59
60 plus
total
Total N per cent per cent per cent
11 Legislators and senior officials
988
24.5
10.7
35.2
12 Corporate managers
747
19.3
3.7
23.0
13 General Managers
229
18.8
7.4
26.2
14 Retail and other services manager
341
16.1
5.6
21.7
21 Physical mathematical and
engineering science professionals
583
9.6
3.9
13.6
22 Life science and health professionals
1,525
11.0
1.9
12.9
23 Teaching professionals
7,773
7.4
2.0
9.5
24 Other professionals
1,744
12.0
2.8
14.8
53
3.8
1.9
5.7
1,606
16.9
10.5
27.4
31 Physical and engineering science
technicians
999
9.1
3.7
12.8
32 Life science and health associate
professionals (except nursing)
473
10.1
2.7
12.9
33 Teaching associate professionals
1,072
14.9
3.7
18.7
34 Other associate professionals
769
15.3
8.2
23.5
35 Information and communications
technicians
187
7.5
1.1
8.6
71 Extraction and building trade workers
8,787
9.5
6.3
15.8
72 Metal machinery and related workers
1,876
7.8
2.3
10.2
74 Other craft and related trades workers
301
7.6
2.3
10.0
2,279
8.2
3.8
12.0
25 Information and communications
technology professionals
26 Legal social and cultural
professionals
75 Food processing wood working
garment and other craft and related
Private sector growth prospects 2009
The private sector opportunities for growth were identified in a Discussion Note (October
2010) entitled: ‘Solomon Islands Growth Prospects Constraints and Policy Priorities’. This
Discussion Note identified five sectors. Table A7.1 in the attachment to this chapter lists these
sectors and updates the information on employment implications where possible.
The World Bank notes that of the 9 per cent growth expected in 2011, 3 per cent was expected
to come from logging, another 2 per cent from Goldridge Mining in 2011 with more
contribution in 2012. Another factor is the recovery in government spending which has been
67 of 100
in large part funded by donors. The World Bank notes that these factors alone will not
generate sustainable long-term growth.26 Export growth has been achieved on the back of
exploiting the limited and exhaustible resources of timber and gold. The Central Bank
Governor notes, in his speech launching the CBSI Annual Report, that the country has to not
only diversify its export base. Solomon Islands also has to ‘fast track the implementations of
import substitution options for costly imported items such as fuel and food items’.27
Public sector growth
Government funding in core service delivery for health, greater than 10 per cent of recurrent
expenditure, and education, greater than 22 per cent.
According to the Central Bank Governor in his speech launching his Bank’s Annual Report,
‘public expenditure by both the government and donors is expected in 2013 to continue to be
a major driver behind some of the economic activities anticipated for 2013’. 28
Future infrastructure investment
In an economy where the private sector is focused on serving the needs of a small domestic
market and the the tourist trade is low, government and donor investment in infrastructure
provide the best guide to the future demand for skills. The Solomon Islands Central Bank
Governor has noted in May 2013 the number of ‘big ticket’ infrastructure projects which are
heading for completion or are on the pipeline. These projects are the Munda International
Airport, the submarine cable, Noro port development, Tina hydro, the Savo geothermal
project, the Honiara ports development, and the Kukum highway.29
However, an estimate of the skills needed for a particular infrastructure project can only be
worked out from more detailed discussions with the parties directly responsible for the
project. In many cases, these will be the enterprises awarded the contracts to build or supply
the infrastructure. In other cases, it will be the government agency charged with implementing
an energy, water or environmental protection initiative.
Future opportunities for skills formation in Solomon Islands also require a change in
government policy to maximise the skills transfer opportunities. One way this could be done
is for government to stipulate in a request for tenders that opportunities for skills transfer be
provided such as the employment of apprentices. Another way could be for government to
specify the ‘green jobs’ and competencies needed to implement its policy statements on
energy and responses to climate change.
Bulman, T and McNicol, A, 2011, The Solomon Islands Growth Agenda: Turning today’s resource-driven
boom into a stronger economy and better living standards, 16 December
27
Speech by Governor Denton Rarawa at launch of the CBSI 2012 Annual Report. Kitano Mendana Hotel, 10
May, 2013, p2.
28
Speech by Governor Denton Rarawa at launch of the CBSI 2012 Annual Report. Kitano Mendana Hotel, 10
May, 2013, p 3.
29
Speech by Governor Denton Rarawa at launch of the CBSI 2012 Annual Report. Kitano Mendana Hotel, 10
May, 2013, p 5.
26
68 of 100
The following list of priority infrastructure projects includes current or ongoing projects
(categorised as O=ongoing), two committed projects (C=committed), and 19 proposed
projects (P=proposed). These projects represent expenditure of SBD $684m in 2013, $570m
2014, $482 in 2015, $403m in 2016, $344m in 2017, $278 in 2017, $238m in 2019 and
$162m in 2020.
It is possible to estimate the skill needs of road and related construction. Using the following
skills profile for a USD $25 million road project of three (3) managers, eight (8) professional
staff, fifteen (15) technicians, twenty five (25) skilled staff and 150 unskilled (ie can acquire
skills on the job). The skilled employees would include auto mechanics, heavy equipment
mechanics and operators, form work carpenters, steel fixers, welders, pipe layers, secretarial
and administrative assistants. The technician level skills include survey and laboratory
technicians.
Many of these skills will be imported as enterprises have a core of skilled personnel.
However, if a procurement requirement for skills transfer is adopted, such as that used in the
UK, it would be possible to identify the specific skills opportunities for each contract. If the
procurement requirement of one apprentice for each USD $1 million was adopted, this would
produce 25 training places for a USD $25 million road or related construction project.
69 of 100
On the basis of the current, committed and proposed expenditure of USD$184 million
between 2013 and 2020, some 184 on-the-job skills training positions could be created. Skills
requirements are often defined by regulatory standards. So future skills training will need to
incorporate a close understanding of the proposed National Building Code and a Road Design
Standard which includes climate proofing.30 Skills training on the use of the revised building
code and road design standards will be needed for government staff responsible for inspection
and enforcement as well as for enterprises.
Table 30: Skills needs of current, committed and proposed road and related
construction projects, 2013-2020, Solomon Islands, number of persons
Type of project
Cost
Skills required
Managerial Professional Technical
Skilled
Low skilled
Basis for estimate USD $25 m
3
8
15
25
150
Road/Airfield
USD $109 m
13
35
66
109
655
Port
USD 75 m
9
24
45
75
450
22
59
111
184
1,105
Total
Conclusion
Most large infrastructure projects import skilled workers. However, these projects also offer
major opportunities for skills transfer domestic workers. These workers will need appropriate
‘front-end’ skills training, akin to apprentice off-the-job training, to enable them to learn
better what to do and how to it on-the-job. In other words, predicting the future demand for
skills, sourced from domestic sources, has to start with a government policy to create these
opportunities. One way to do this is to include in tender specifications a requirement for
enterprises to take on workers in training.
Attachment 7
Table A7.1: Potential growth sectors identified by the World Bank’s ‘Solomon Islands
See Lal, P.N. and Thurairajah, V. 2011. ‘Making informed adaptation choices: A case study of climate proofing
road infrastructure in the Solomon Islands’. A background case study, Lal, P.N. 2011, Climate Change
Adaptation in the Pacific: Making Informed Choices, prepared for the Australian Department of Climate Change
and Energy Efficiency (DCCEE), the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Suva, Fiji. See also ADB,
2011, Guidelines for Climate Proofing Investment in the Transport Sector: Road Infrastructure Projects. Manila,
Asian Development Bank.
30
70 of 100
Growth Prospects: Constraints and Policy Priorities’, Discussion Note, October 2010
Potential growth sectors
2009
1. MINERALS In this
sector, gold, and in
particular the rehabilitation
of the Gold Ridge mine, is
the most promising
medium- term prospect.
Gold Ridge could
potentially offset a large
share of the export losses
from logging, but over a
limited period.
2. TUNA FISHERIES
Despite constraints over
revamping management and
production at the Soltai
plant, this sector continues
to make a significant
contribution to exports. Its
value is around 25 percent
of log exports, and ranks as
the second major export.
3. PLANTATION
FORESTRY Plantation
forestry, both large scale
commercial and village
scale, offers a long term,
sustainable but partial,
restoration of earnings and
jobs from depleted forest
resources. But even under
favourable conditions these
activities might replace less
than 10 percent of recent
annual export earnings from
extractive logging by 2013.
Employment impact
If the financing and regulatory issues
are resolved, the Gold Ridge mine
could, from 2010, be producing and
exporting 135,000 ounces each year
until 2013 and 124,000 ounces for
four years annually beyond that.
Small alluvial mining could also
benefit from 'downstream' effects of
the pit mining. Local employment
could rise from 180 to 400 if mining
commences.
The job-generating effect will be
modest, perhaps 400 local jobs on
Guadalcanal. This includes the 180
already employed refurbishing the
mine as well as 220 assumed new
employees.
There is an opportunity to expand
value adding through increased
loining. Exports could exceed US$40
million and more than 1000 new jobs
could be created. This could happen
through revived and expanded
activity at Soltai and through new
entry by a foreign investor
Little net gain in large scale
commercial forestry jobs above 2008
levels of 500-600; unknown
expansion at village level.
71 of 100
Information on prospects
2014-2020 Start of production at Gold
ridge has been a key driver
of growth to 2013. Mining
exports grew in 2012.
Fisheries exports grew in
2012.
Logging has been a key
driver of growth - logging
grew in 2012 and in 2013 is
expected to remain at the
same level as 2012. Sawn
timber exports have doubled
in the last five years.
Need to focus more on the
value-adding processing of
timber, as in Fiji & Vanuatu
4. TOURISM Recreational
tourism remains
disappointingly low. Visitor
spending and room
occupancy are currently
driven by personnel
associated with donor
assistance. Without
resolution of the airline
access problem to outer
islands, resort tourism and
related regional incomes
may grow only slowly.
Available proxy data suggest that
hotel and restaurant contribution to
GDP is only two percent. Until
constraints are addressed, tourism
contribution to GDP will remain at
these low levels.
By 2013 there are likely to an
additional 490 rooms in Honiara;
Additional 110 rooms in resorts
outside Honiara with occupancy rates
increased by 10-15% in regional
areas.Visitor numbers Î24 300 by
2012, (14,251 now) recreational share
to 35% (20% 2009).Approximately
1.5 additional staff per additional
room, 735 Honiara, 165 elsewhere.
Government has a target of
50,000 visitors by 2015, up
from 24,000 arrivals in 2012.
5. PLANTATION
AGRICULTURE Limited
value adding capacity for
copra along with the RIPEL
dispute, and marketing and
quality deficiencies for
cocoa, are holding back
growth.
6. PALM OIL
PLANTATIONS Output
has the potential to increase
substantially from the
existing GPPOL plantation,
out growing and the
development of a new
plantation on Malaita,
providing land issues can be
resolved and world oil
prices recover somewhat
from their recent decreases.
1300 additional jobs associated with
coconuts/copra, 600 with cocoa,
minimal jobs associated with crushing
mill
Good copra, coffee, fisheries
production contributing too.
Farmers in 2012 produce
5,000 tons of cocoa.
Ministry of Agriculture has a
target of 20,000 tons by
2020.
2000 Temporary jobs planting
Malaita with further 2000 permanent
jobs if full development, GPPOL adds
500 jobs by 2013.
Palm oil has shown a yearon-year improvement in the
first four months of 2013
and is expected to remain so
for the rest of 2013.
72 of 100
Chapter Eight: Opportunities in Australian and New Zealand labour
markets
Solomon Island residents in Australia
The focus of the following analysis of overseas work opportunities for Solomon Islanders
focuses mainly on Australia because it has the largest labour market in the region with the
most job vacancies. In addition, recent census data are available on the occupations and
industries of employment of Solomon Islanders resident in Australia.
The estimated population of Solomon Islanders resident in Australia in 2011 is 2,140. The
estimated population over the age of 15 years is 1,930. This is a tiny fraction of the estimated
6.0 million residents in Australia in mid 2011 who were born overseas. 31 Solomon Islanders
resident in Australia are a slightly lower proportion of their total population compared with
the other Melanesian countries. Fiji dominates the Melanesian migrant flow to Australia with
7.4 per cent of its resident population in Australia. Papua New Guinea has 0.54 per cent of its
resident population in Australia, Vanuatu has 0.44 per cent and Solomon Islands has 0.39 per
cent.
Table 31: Industry of employment for Solomon Islanders resident in Australia, 2011
Industry of Employment
Male
Female Total
1. Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing
5.7
1.3
3.3
2. Mining
2.1
1.7
1.9
3. Manufacturing
13.5
5.2
8.9
4. Electricity, Gas, Water & Waste Services
2.1
1.0
5. Construction
14.3
6.6
6. Wholesale Trade
3.6
3.7
3.5
7. Retail Trade
4.8
12.0
8.4
8. Accommodation & Food Services
4.5
8.4
6.4
9. Transport, Postal & Warehousing
6.7
2.8
4.5
10. Information, Media & Telecommunications
1.0
11. Financial & Insurance Services
2.6
12. Rental, Hiring & Real Estate Services
1.4
13. Professional, Scientific & Technical Services
13.3
5.4
8.9
14. Administrative & Support Services
0.0
4.5
2.3
15. Public Administration & Safety
13.3
8.4
10.4
16. Education & Training
3.8
12.3
8.0
17. Health Care & Social Assistance
6.7
30.8
18.8
0.4
2.4
2.4
0.7
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012, ‘Australia's Population By Country Of Birth’ 3412.0 - Migration,
Australia, 2010-11, released 15 August.
31
73 of 100
19. Other Services
6.4
Total 100.0
N
1.3
3.6
100.0
100.0
465
910
421
Table 31 above shows in the industries Solomon Islands resident in Australia are employed.
The first fact worth noting is that more women than men have jobs. The top five sectors
employing women are: health care & social assistance, education & training, retail trade,
public administration & safety, and accommodation & food services. The top five sectors for
men are: construction, manufacturing, public administration & safety, professional, scientific
& technical services and health care & social assistance.
Figure 10 shows the income distribution of Solomon Island residents in paid work in Australia
(see also Table A8.1). It includes both part-time and full-time work. The incomes earned vary
great from the 18 per cent in the top two income brackets to the same proportion in the both
two brackets. The largest proportion earn between $20,000 and $32,000 a year, followed by
those who earn between $32,000 and $42,000 a year.
Figure 10: Income distribution of Solomon Island residents in paid work in
Australia, per cent
Income distribution of Solomon Islanders in
paid work in Australia
$2,000 or more ($104,000 or more)
9
Income per week & year
$1,500-$1,999 ($78,000-$103,999)
9
$1,250-$1,499 ($65,000-$77,999)
5
$1,000-$1,249 ($52,000-$64,999)
12
$800-$999 ($41,600-$51,999)
9
$600-$799 ($31,200-$41,599)
13
$400-$599 ($20,800-$31,199)
16
$300-$399 ($15,600-$20,799)
10
$200-$299 ($10,400-$15,599)
9
$1-$199 ($1-$10,399)
9
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
Per cent
The large differences in income earned for men and women are shown in Figure A8.1 in the
Attachment to this chapter. These differences no doubt reflect the fact that women are more
likely to be part-time workers. Women who are income earners are more concentrated in the
$20,000 to $42,000 bracket while the male earners are more evenly distributed across all
income brackets.
Figure 11 shows the top ten jobs held by Solomon Islands men resident in Australia in 2011.
Registered Nurses is the most important job for men, followed by crop farm workers, sales
assistants, aged & disabled carers, and storepersons. For women, the most important
74 of 100
occupation is also registered nurses, followed by aged and disabled carers, commercial
cleaners, primary school teachers, and crop farm workers. In terms of broad skill and
education levels, the only professional level positions in the top ten jobs for both men and
women are: registered nurses, electrical engineer, and primary school teacher. Other positions
that are likely to require a post-school qualification are: aged and disabled carers and nursing
support and personal care workers, and accounting clerks.
Figure 11: Top ten jobs held by men from Solomon Islands resident in
Australia, 2011, per cent of all jobs held
Top ten jobs held by men from Solomon Islands
resident in Australia 2011
per cent
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Registered Nurses
14
12
Crop Farm Workers
9
Sales Assistants (General)
6
Aged and Disabled Carers
4
Storepersons
3
Commercial Cleaners
3
Electricians
3
Electrical Engineers
3
Retail Managers
2
Nursing Support and Personal Care Workers
2
Figure 12: Figure 11: Top ten jobs held by women from Solomon Islands
resident in Australia, 2011, per cent of all jobs held
Top ten jobs held by women from Solomon Islands
resident in Australia 2011
Per cent
0
2
Registered Nurses
Aged and Disabled Carers
Commercial Cleaners
Primary School Teachers
Crop Farm Workers
Sales Assistants (General)
Nursing Support and Personal Care Workers
General Clerks
Accounting Clerks
Kitchenhands
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
15
10
7
5
5
5
4
3
3
3
Figure 13 groups the jobs held by Solomon Island residents in Australia into broad skills and
education based categories. What is evident is the large concentration of jobs at both ends of
the skills spectrum: professionals and labourers. Many are also in clerical and personal
support (aged & disabled carers, nursing support & personal carers) jobs. It is notable that
Solomon Islands resident in Australia hold few jobs at the technician or associate professional
75 of 100
levels.
There is evidence that Solomon Island residents may be overqualified for some of the jobs
they hold. A more detailed look at the large number of Solomon Islands residents who are
aged and disabled carers shows that half have a diploma or higher qualification and 30 per
cent have a certificate and the remainder with no post-school qualification. In contrast, for the
nursing support and personal care workers, 60 per cent have a certificate only, 10 per cent
have a post-graduate degree and 30 per cent do not have a post-school qualification.
Figure 13: Type of job held by Solomon Island residents in Australia, 2011, per
cent
Broad type of job held by Solomon Island
residents in Australia
Per cent
0
5
Managerial
Professional
Associate professional
Trade
Clerical
Personal support workers
Personal service workers
Sales
Machine operators
Labourers
10
15
20
25
30
5
27
1
5
11
12
5
7
2
25
Figure 14: Type of job held by men & women Solomon Islands residents in
Australia 2011, per cent
Type of jobs held by men & women, Solomon
Islands residents in Australia 2011
0
Managerial
Professional
Associate professional
Trade
Clerical
Personal support workers
Personal service workers
Sales
Machine operators
Labourers
5
3
10
15
20
25
30
6
26 27
12
1
10
7
3
6
0
16
16
7
7
9
4
24
Male
Female
76 of 100
27
In terms of jobs held by men compared with women, the share of professional jobs is virtually
the same (see Figure 14). Men are more likely to have trade-related work and women are
more likely to have clerical, personal support work, and to a lesser extent sales work. It is
notable that few are in technician or associate professional jobs and few are working in trades
jobs.
Skilled migrants from Solomon Islands to New Zealand
Immigration New Zealand provides data on the occupation of migrants who were approved to
work in New Zealand for the last five years. Between July 2008 and July 2012, 2,195
Solomon Islands applied to work in New Zealand. Most of these approved applications (86
per cent) were for the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme. Of the remainder 146
were granted a work visa because they were the partner of a worker or a student. No job offer
was required and no information on the person’s occupation was recorded. It is interesting to
note that 42 per cent of these applicants were men.
The number of skilled migrants from Solomon Islands between July 2008 and December 2012
was 70. Most of these approved applications (58) were made from within New Zealand and
most (90 per cent) had a job offer. The twelve offshore applications had no job offer and only
four were in the essential skills category, three were classified as minister/missionary or
pastor and the remainder were classified as general with no information recorded about their
occupation.
Information on the occupations of 48 skilled migrants to Solomon Islands over nearly a five
year period is presented in Table A8.2. Data on the occupations of 13 skilled migrants from
Solomon Islands who were already resident in New Zealand for the period July 2008 to
February 2013 are presented in Table A8.3. Figure 15 combines and summarises the data on
occupations of skilled migrants from Solomon Islands to New Zealand over the last five
years.
Figure 15: The type of job held by skilled migrants from Solomon Islands to
New Zealand, July 2008 to February 2013, per cent
Type of jobs held by skilled migrants from
Solomon Islands to New Zealand
per cent
0
5
10
15
Managers
20
25
30
35
13
Professionals
33
Technicians & Trades
18
Community Personal Service
13
Clerical Administrative
11
Labourers
11
77 of 100
78 of 100
Figure 15 can be compared with Figure 13 for Australia. Each is based on a different base
population. Figure 13 refers to Solomon Island residents in Australia and Figure 15 refers to
approved skilled migrants from Solomon Islands to New Zealand, many of whom may have
been already resident in New Zealand. Solomon Islands working in Australia are concentrated
in professional occupations and in labouring work, with others in clerical and personal care
work. The pattern for New Zealand is somewhat different. The profile is much more skills
based, with one-in-three in the professions, just under one-in-twenty are in technician and
trades work and around one-in-ten are in community or personal service jobs or clerical work.
Given that skills are a key criterion for entry, it is understandable that few are labourers. If
those approved to work because they are accompanying their partners were included, more
may have been categorised as labourers or other low skilled jobs.
79 of 100
Attachment 8
Table A8.1: Distribution of earnings, weekly & annual, for Solomon Islands
residents in Australia, 2011, per cent
Weekly & annual income
Per cent
$1-$199 ($1-$10,399)
9.1
$200-$299 ($10,400-$15,599)
8.8
$300-$399 ($15,600-$20,799)
9.6
$400-$599 ($20,800-$31,199)
15.5
$600-$799 ($31,200-$41,599)
12.7
$800-$999 ($41,600-$51,999)
9.3
$1,000-$1,249 ($52,000-$64,999)
11.5
$1,250-$1,499 ($65,000-$77,999)
5.4
$1,500-$1,999 ($78,000-$103,999)
9.4
$2,000 or more ($104,000 or more)
8.7
Total
100.0
N
1,268
Figure A8.1: income distribution of Solomon Islands resident in Australia,
males & females, per cent
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Table A8.2: Occupations of skilled migrants from Solomon Islands to New Zealand,
July 2008 to December 2012, male, female & total
Standard Major
Group ANZSCO
Managers
Professionals
Technicians & Trades
Workers
Community Personal
Service Workers
Occupation Description
Total
Dairy Cattle Farmer
7
7
Sports Administrator
1
1
Hospital Pharmacist
5
2
Systems Analyst
2
2
Developer Programmer
2
2
Software Applications Programmers nec
2
2
Minister of Religion
2
2
Motor Mechanic (General)
1
1
Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (Mechanical)
1
1
Electrician (General)
1
1
Electrician (Special Class)
1
1
Light Technician
1
1
Technicians Trades Workers nec
2
2
Youth Worker
1
1
Aged or Disabled Carer
5
4
Personal Care Assistant
1
1
1
1
3
3
Office Manager
1
1
Clerical Administrative Workers nec
2
2
Vineyard Worker
3
3
Dairy Cattle Farm Worker
1
1
Electrical or Telecom Trades Assistant
2
2
48
30
Clerical Administrative Contract Administrator
Workers
Program or Project Administrator
Labourers
Males Females
Total
3
1
18
Source: W3 - Occupations of work applications approved, 1 September 2013, Immigration New Zealand
81 of 100
Table A8.3: Occupations of skilled migrants from Solomon Islands to New
Zealand, applying from within New Zealand, July 2008 to February 2013
Standard Major Group
Professionals
Technicians
Trades Workers
Community & Personal
Service Workers
Occupation Description
Male
Civil Engineer
1
Production or Plant Engineer
1
University Lecturer
1
Hospital Pharmacist
1
Female
Hospital Pharmacist
1
Occupational Therapist
1
Physiotherapist
1
Anaesthetic Technician
1
Electrical Engineering Technician
1
Fitter (General)
1
Electrician (General)
1
Footballer
1
Clerical and Administrative Program or Project Administrator
Workers
Total
1
8
5
Source: R4- Occupation & region for resident principal applicants, 1 September 2013, Immigration
New Zealand
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Chapter Nine: Temporary work in Australia and New Zealand
Australia and New Zealand have a strong focus on skills as a basis for migrant entry for work
in the medium and long term. However, short-term work and work-based training visas are
available. The short-term work visas are available to citizens of Pacific island countries for
seasonal work in horticulture. The working holiday visa is generally not available to Pacific
island countries.32
In Australia, the Seasonal Workers Program started on 1 July 2012 and is to run until 30 June
2016. The duration of work is from a minimum of 14 weeks to a maximum of seven months.
In New Zealand, the duration is a maximum of seven months in any 11-month period.
Occupational work with training visa
Another short-term visa which identify available for is the occupational training visa - now
known as Training and Research (Subclass 402) Visa - Occupational Trainee Stream.
This visa allows people to complete workplace-based training in Australia on a temporary
basis for a period of up to two years. The training is to provide people with additional or
enhanced skills in the nominated occupations, tertiary studies or fields of expertise. The
training programs are required to be for a minimum period of 30 hours a week and at least 70
per cent of this training is required to be workplace-based.33
The types of occupational training include:
 training or practical experience in the workplace required to obtain registration for
employment in an occupation in Australia or in the visa holder’s home country,
 a structured workplace training program to enhance existing skills in an eligible
occupation, or
 structured workplace training to enhance skills and promote capacity building
outside Australia.34
Seasonal work in Australia
Australia's Seasonal Worker Program (SWP) consists of an ongoing program in Australia's
horticulture sector and a trial of seasonal labour mobility arrangements in the accommodation,
aquaculture, cane and cotton sectors in selected locations to June 2015.
Eligible countries of origin are Belgium, Canada, Republic of Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Hong Kong, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Sweden, Taiwan and United Kingdom. Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, the
USA and Uruguay. Papua New Guinea has recently signed an MoU with Australia for university graduates only
to be eligible for a working holiday visa. However, PNG is not mentioned on the DIAC website as an eligible
country http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/working-holiday/462/
33
http://www.immi.gov.au/visas/temporary-visa/402/occupational-trainee/
34
http://www.immi.gov.au/visas/temporary-visa/402/occupational-trainee/
32
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Seasonal workers can undertake what is considered to be low skilled and unskilled work:




sowing, planting and cultivating agricultural holdings;
flower or vegetable market gardens in connection with the sowing, planting, raising,
cultivation, harvesting, picking, packing or treating of horticulture crops, including fruit
and vegetables upon farms, orchards and/or plantations;
clearing, fencing, trenching, draining or otherwise preparing or treating land for the
sowing, raising, harvesting or treating of horticulture crops, including fruit and
vegetables; and
viticulture activities to prepare land for planting of wine grape vines, and the pruning,
growing treating, picking, harvesting and forwarding of wine grapes.35
A three year trial of seasonal workers in accommodation, aquaculture, cotton and cane sectors
is also taking place in selected locations across Australia. The relevant occupations and
locations are listed on the program’s website.36 Solomon Islands, along with another of other
countries has a low take up to date compared with Tonga and Vanuatu (see Table 32). Tonga
dominates the pilot scheme and the new seasonal worker program.
Table 32: Country of origin for workers on Australia’s Pilot scheme and
Seasonal Worker Program, numbers and per cent
Country
Tonga
Pilot Feb
2009-30
June 2012
Per cent
SWP (1 June
2012 30 June
2013)
Per cent
Total
Per cent
1,331
81.5
1,199
81.4
2,530
81.5
117
7.2
119
8.1
236
7.6
Papua New Guinea
82
5.0
26
1.8
108
3.5
Kiribati
52
3.2
34
2.3
86
2.8
Samoa
39
2.4
22
1.5
61
2.0
0
0.0
42
2.9
42
1.4
12
0.7
21
1.4
33
1.1
Nauru
0
0.0
10
0.7
10
0.3
Tuvalu
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
Totals
1,633
Vanuatu
Solomon Islands
Timor-Leste
100.0
1,473
100.0
3,106
100.0
In terms of the available number of places, 74 per cent have been filled in 2013, 91 per cent
(1,454) of horticulture places and 5 per cent (19) of trial places. This high take up rate for
http://deewr.gov.au/types-jobs-seasonal-workers
http://deewr.gov.au/seasonal-worker-program-accommodation-trial
http://deewr.gov.au/seasonal-worker-program-aquaculture-trial
http://deewr.gov.au/seasonal-worker-program-cotton-trial
http://deewr.gov.au/seasonal-worker-program-cane-trial
35
36
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horticulture suggests that, despite the increase in the number of places from 1,600 to 2,000 in
the second year of the program, there may be few opportunities for late comers to increase
their numbers in this part of the program. The above data on participation in the program
suggests that there is a major ‘first mover’ advantage to the countries that were able to
mobilise large intakes from the very beginning. This is confirmed by data from the longer
established Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) in New Zealand. The focus of the RSE is
solely on work involving planting, maintaining, harvesting and packing crops in the
horticulture and viticulture industries.
Table 33: Share of employment for Solomon Islands & Vanuatu in Recognised
Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme in New Zealand, 2007-08 to 2012-13, per cent of
total RSE employment
07/08
08/09
09/10
10/11
11/12
12/13
Solomon Islands
5.3
4.6
4.1
3.6
5.8
5.7
Vanuatu
37.9
34.3
34.4
33.2
34.4
37.9
Total RSE
4,486
6,821
6,216
7,091
7,009
7,456
Solomon Island’s numbers in employment in the RSE have increased from 238 in 2007-08 to
423 in 2012-13, with a dip to 256 in 2009-10 and 252 in 2010-11. However, more important is
the relative share of total employment.
Table 33 shows that Solomon Islands’ share of jobs on the RSE has varied from 3.6 to 5.8 per
cent and has remained under 6 per cent for the six years of the scheme. Vanuatu on the other
hand, has the largest share of employment, ahead of Tonga’s 21 per cent in 2012-13. Vanuatu
started with a high share of total employment on the scheme and has varied only within a
band of 33 to 38 per cent.
First mover advantage
What is the first mover advantage? Employers make an initial investment in training up new
workers. This means they are likely to have a preference for returning workers so they can get
a better return on their initial investment in training. A 2011 survey of RSE employers
confirms this. In terms of early productivity, 61 percent of employers rated their returning
Pacific RSE workers as ‘excellent – all hit the ground running’ and a further 34 percent rated
these workers as ‘good – most need very little training’.37
Of those employers who employed both new and returning Pacific RSE workers, 86 percent
believe that their returning workers are ‘much more productive’ (47 percent) or ‘somewhat
more productive’ (39 percent) than their new workers this year. Some 90 percent of employers
who employed both new and returning Pacific RSE workers reported that returning workers
helped with the training of new workers.38
RSE Monitoring: Key Findings from the 2011 Employers Survey, Prepared by Research New Zealand for the
Labour and Immigration Research Centre, Department of Labour, Government of New Zealand, pp 5-6.
38
RSE Monitoring: Key Findings from the 2011 Employers Survey, Prepared by Research New Zealand for the
Labour and Immigration Research Centre, Department of Labour, Government of New Zealand, pp 5-6.
37
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The success of Vanuatu in accessing the RSE stems from being part of the pilot before RSE
was introduced. Seasonal Solutions (SSCO), an employer co-operative in Otago, decided after
after the pilot that they would stay with workers from Vanuatu and have done since then.
Because of the SSCO endorsement of Vanuatu workers, other employers and regions also
wanted to try out workers from Vanuatu. Their reputation for being reliable and happy
workers is said to have driven their success. In an employer-driven scheme, early information
about the performance and reputation of workers has had a lasting impact.
Nevertheless, feedback from New Zealand indicates that workers from Solomon Islands have
a good reputation as hard workers with few pastoral care related issues. Numbers from
Solomon Islands are likely to increase in New Zealand as employers extend their areas of
cultivation. They have the potential to replace workers from Vanuatu if the latter’s pastoral
care issues increase.
Another factor may be the cost of air travel. For New Zealand employers, the lack of a direct
flight from Honiara to New Zealand puts Solomon Islands at a major cost disadvantage
compared to Vanuatu where a direct flight is available. Many other RSE sending countries
have direct flights into New Zealand. However, this cost disadvantage applies to Tonga for
work in Australia as there are no direct flights. So other factors shape recruitment patterns.
Implications for how recruitment is managed
This evidence suggests that building direct relationships with employers is crucial. Solomon
Islands government does not have a liaison officer in New Zealand who, among other duties,
can visit employers to promote the value of recruiting workers from their country. The
Solomon Islands Government manages the selection of seasonal worker candidates through an
agent model. Vanuatu also has an agent model. To recruit from an agent, Australian employers
must pay the agent to select a short-list of candidates and for the service of completing visa
application forms etc. Tonga and other countries such as Kiribati have a work-ready pool
arrangement that provides a free service to employers. The agent model presents challenges to
partner countries because governments have to make sure its agents are informed about the
requirements of the program, represent their country well when engaging with Australian
employers, and in overseeing their activities. If the agent model is to succeed, it needs to offer
a professional service over and above what a government run work-ready pool can offer to
employers.39
Also important is the need for the Government to gather information about the skills and
education levels of the job seekers to make it easier for employers to recruit directly as an
alternative to costly use of agents. This information needs also to be used to work out where
government needs to fill gaps through training and education to ensure that workers have the
levels of basic literacy and understanding of their rights and obligations to work overseas.
Information provided by Susannah Smith, Director, Seasonal Worker Program Migration, Department of
Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Government of Australia
39
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Chapter Ten: Current demand for skilled migrants in Australia and New
Zealand
Manpower Group has some 3,800 offices in over 80 countries and territories. The company
conducts an annual survey of employers hiring intentions by asking them about whether they
are having difficulty filling talent; and what jobs are most difficult to fill and why. A survey of
employers in Australia and New Zealand in the first quarter of 2012 revealed that half are
having difficulty filling jobs.40
The jobs Australian employers are having the greatest difficulty in filling are: skilled trades
workers, engineers, sales representatives, accounting & finance staff, IT staff, management,
technicians, drivers, mechanics, and chefs/cooks. For the seventh consecutive year of the
survey, employers report that skilled trades positions are the most difficult type of vacancy
across Australia.41 The list for New Zealand is similar: engineers, sales representatives, skilled
trades workers, IT staff, technicians, accounting & finance staff, management/executives,
chefs/cooks marketing, public relations/communications staff, and drivers.42 One-in-five New
Zealand employers and one-in-four Australian employers report that they are willing to look
outside their own region and country for suitable workers.43
Skilled migration to Australia and New Zealand
The United States lacks a permanent resident skilled migration category; instead it admits up
to one million low-skilled migrants per year. Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, by
contrast, have over the last decade given priority to migrants with skills-in-demand.44
In the decade since 2000, there has been extraordinary growth in skilled migration to New
Zealand and Australia, through both permanent and temporary entry. Between 2004/05 and
2008/09, Australia selected 358,151 permanent General Skilled Migration migrants, including
dependants. In 2009/10 Australia allocated 59 per cent of its permanent migration places to
skilled applicants, 33 per cent to Family Category entrants, and 8 per cent to Humanitarian
Category entrants, out of a programme total of 182,450.
New Zealand had a planned overall intake of 45,000-50,000 people, including secondary
applicants, across the: Skilled/Business Category: (60 per cent); Family (Partner and
Dependent Child); Category: (21 per cent); Family (Parent, Adult Child and Adult Sibling)
Category: (11 per cent); and the International/Humanitarian Category: (8 per cent). The top
five professions of skilled migrants to Australia in the period 2004 to 2009 were accounting
(32 per cent), computing (23 per cent), architecture/building (9 per cent), engineering (9 per
cent), and nursing (5 per cent). The major trades of skilled migrants were chefs/bakers (30 per
cent of trade arrivals), engineering (14 per cent), building excluding plumbing (14 per cent),
electrical (12 per cent), and hairdressing (12 per cent).
ManpowerGroup, 2012 Talent Shortage Survey Australia and New Zealand, pp 13 & 17.
See Note 36, p 13.
42
See Note 36. p 17.
43
See Note 36, p 15 & 19.
44
Hawthorne, L; 2011, Competing for Skills: Migration policies and trends in New Zealand and Australia.
Department of Labour PO Box 3705 Wellington New Zealand p xiii. The following information on the
differences between Australia and New Zealand is drawn from the Hawthorne report.
40
41
87 of 100
For New Zealand, computing and education were the major occupations for skilled migrant
professionals, both constituting 18 per cent of all professionally qualified skilled migrants),
followed by registered nurses (17 per cent), architects and engineers (15 per cent), business,
human resource, and marketing professionals (15 per cent), and health professionals (9 per
cent).45
Occupational demand is a key determinant of migrant selection in both countries. There has
been a rising points threshold for skilled category selection to both countries. From 2004/05 to
2008/09, 58 per cent of Australia's 457 temporary visa arrivals were working in professional
fields (compared with 66 per cent of permanent general skilled migrant arrivals). Seventeen
per cent were in the trades, 13 per cent were associate professionals, and 10 per cent were
managers and administrators. Just 2 per cent possessed lower level skills, despite the pressures
of the mining boom and the existence of select low- skilled schemes (such as the recruitment
of abattoir workers).
The primary General/Essential Skills groups entering New Zealand from 2004/05 to 2008/09
were clerical, sales and service workers (21 per cent), followed by 19 per cent in professional
occupations, 15 per cent in the trades, 11 per cent who were managers and administrators, 11
per cent who were associate professionals, and 8 per cent who were labourers. The major
professions in 2008/09 were health and life sciences, including nursing (8,999), and teachers
and lecturers (4,163). Two groups dominated the 19,791 trades total that year: mechanic and
fabrication engineering (6,299) and automotive, mechanical, and building workers.
An important new trend is a greater rôle for employer selection in both countries. According
to the Hawthorne report: ‘Employers in both countries have come to exert extraordinary
influence on permanent as well as temporary entry flows’.46 Australian employers in selecting
migrants for temporary work visas are emphasising people with high-level English language
ability. They are also seeking people from comparable high-quality education systems, and
want applicants who can fit into the workplace at speed. New Zealand's temporary skills entry
stream (General/Essential Skills Category) has long allowed employers to assess the
suitability of applicants for permanent skilled migrant status. Australia's priority ranking
system is moving in the same direction.47
Australia and New Zealand publish skills shortages lists. New Zealand’s Immediate Skills
List has over 70 occupations listed. Australian Immigration lists over 440 occupations eligible
for the General Skilled Migration visas and 126 of these are middle-level occupations.
New Zealand short-term employment prospects
New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment has produced in June 2013
‘Short-term Employment Prospects: 2013 – 2016. The key relevant points for Solomon
Islands are:

Employment in New Zealand is expected to increase gradually, growing by 1.3 per cent
(or 28,400) between 2013 and 2014 year to March, by 2.3 per cent (or 52,300) between
See Note 40, p xv.
See Note 40, p 157.
47
See Note 40, p 157.
45
46
88 of 100
2014 and 2015 year to March and by 2.1 per cent (or 49,500) between 2015 and 2016 year
to March

The unemployment rate is expected to trend down slowly, falling to 6.0 per cent by March
quarter 2014 down to 5.7 per cent by March quarter 2015 and decline below 5 per cent by
March quarter 2016

Strong employment growth is expected in the construction and utilities industries over the
next three years while the prospects for employment in other industries vary over time.

Growth in demand for employment in highly skilled jobs (that is, managers and
professionals across a number of areas) will be consistently high over the forecast period,
accounting for about 50 per cent of the overall employment growth.

Opportunities for lower-skilled workers are expected to account for about 35 per cent of
the employment growth over the period. The food processing, retailing, accommodation,
agriculture and construction industries should create most of these opportunities.

Employment growth will be strongest mainly in the Auckland and Canterbury regions
The global economic outlook in June 2013 is much better than six months earlier with lower
downside risk. The uncertainty and concerns that the Eurozone may fall into recession have
diminished. The prospects for growth in the USA have strengthened while weakening
somewhat in Australia and China. This could dampen New Zealand’s export demand and
returns, although the Canterbury rebuild after the Christchurch earthquake will provide a
strong growth stimulus for the economy.48
Recent Migration Trends Key Indicators Report: June 2013
The same Ministry has also produced Migration Trends Key Indicators Report: June 2013.
This report notes that permanent and long-term migration to New Zealand had a net gain of
7,900 in the year to June 2013 year compared with a net loss of 3,200 in the year to June 2012
year. The net gain was mainly due to fewer New Zealand citizen departures to Australia.
Other key points include information that in 2012-2013, 38,961 people were approved for
residence in New Zealand, down 4 percent compared with 40,448 in 2011-2012. The top
source countries were China (15 per cent) followed by the United Kingdom and India (13 per
cent each). This is the first time in the last 10 years that China has been the top source country
for residence approvals.
Skilled Migrant Category approvals (18,156 people) accounted for just under half of all
residence approvals in 2012-2013. The number of Skilled Migrant Category approvals was
down 4 per cent, though the decline was more modest than in previous years. In 2012-2013,
94 per cent of Skilled Migrant Category principal migrants were approved with a job or job
offer in skilled employment compared with 92 percent in 2011/12.
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment, 2013, ‘Short-term Employment Prospects: 2013 – 2016,
Government of New Zealand, June, pp 1-2.
48
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India was the top source country of Skilled Migrant Category principal applicants in 20122013 and increased 5 per cent from 2011-2012. The increase from India is mainly due to
former Indian international students who transition to temporary work and then to permanent
residence.
The number of people approved for a temporary work visa in 2012-2013 increased 5 percent
from the previous year due to increases in the number of working holidaymakers, ‘study to
work’ visa holders, horticulture and viticulture seasonal workers, and Essential Skills workers.
Essential Skills temporary workers approved in 2012-2013 increased 2 per cent from the
previous year. In 2012-2013, 4,733 people were approved for a work visa under Essential
Skills for a job offer in the Canterbury region, an increase of 40 percent from 2011/12. This
follows a 34 percent increase in the previous year as the number of Essential Skills workers
rebounded from a low in 2010/11 due to the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.49
Work opportunities in Australia and New Zealand
Australia and New Zealand publish skills shortages lists. New Zealand’s Immediate Skills
List has over 70 occupations listed. Australian Immigration lists over 440 occupations eligible
for the General Skilled Migration visas and 126 of these are middle-level occupations (see
Tables A10.1 & A10,2).
Maritime work
Existing maritime workforce
There are opportunities for Solomon Islanders to work as seafarers on foreign-owned vessels
in the region with appropriate training. These opportunities are shown by Tonga’s example.
The Tonga’s Maritime training institute has had manning contracts with three shipping
companies. Oceangas Australia Pty Ltd, which operates LPG Gas tankers in the Pacific
employed 23 Tongans plus a trainee. Inco Ships Australia Pty Ltd operates conventional bulk
carriers, complex self-unloading bulk cargo ships, as well as fully automated powder cement
carriers. Inco Ships also operate crewing recruitment agencies in Sydney and Manila and
offers crew supply services on a lump sum basis for any type of vessel. The company
employed 43 Tongans in 2009. Pacific International Lines (PIL) from Singapore employed 14
Tongan crew in 2009.
The deep sea fishing industry and the rôle of observers
A significant opportunity for work on foreign vessels is the Observer Programs of the Western
and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and the Forum Fisheries Agency.
Observers are placed on board tuna fishing vessels across the region to report on fishing
catches and methods.50 Often they travel with the fishing vessels, being away at sea for weeks
or months at a time, to gather independent information about what is happening at sea. They
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, 2013, Migration Trends Key Indicators Report: June 2013,
Government of New Zealand, August, pp 2-3.
50
The following description is taken from the Observer Program, Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency
http://www.ffa.int/system/files/2
per
cent20MINUTE
per
cent20BRIEFS_Observers_regional
per
cent20factsheet.pdf
49
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make notes of how much fish is caught, what type of fish are caught, what methods are used
to catch fish, and whether they observed any breaches to laws and regulations. This
information is then fed back into central databases so regional agencies and national
governments can keep track of what fishing vessels are doing and whether fishing laws and
regulations are being implemented. Debriefers meet observers when they come back to port to
check their data and provide feedback. They also discuss any issues observers have such as
relations with the crew and payment of relevant salary and allowances.
Observers are placed on deep sea fishing vessels, including US, Japanese, Korean and
Taiwanese vessels. Fishing vessels are obliged to provide observers with a bed and food for
the time they are on-board the ship. Observers earn approximately USD $30-50 a day. In
2011, some 469 observers spent an average of 106 days at sea and 2.8 average number of trips
at sea. The Forum Fisheries Agency Observers Programme recommends a minimum of 100
seadays per observer. Costs on board a vessel are low. The Observer Programme has
developed a career pathway from base observer to senior observer, then debriefer, trainer, and
coordinator. Observers need maritime training on how to live and work on a vessel at sea,
how to take part in firefighting drills, navigation, basic first aid and sea safety training. They
also need good basic skills in literacy and numeracy because the major function of an
observer to know how to fill in all the rather complex reporting forms.
In November, 2012, the Government Tonga entered into a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) with the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency. This agreement is to provide
fisheries observer services to the US purse-seine tuna fleet operating in the Western and
Central Pacific Ocean.51 For these services, the Tongan Division of Fisheries' observer
programme has been paid US$77,125 to coordinate 25 observer placements on US-flagged
vessels over the next twelve months. This funding is to employ and train the observers as well
as developing the national infrastructure needed to support this capacity expansion. The
potential to make more use of Solomon Islands observers on foreign vessels depends on
whether the government allows foreign fishing vessels access to Tongan waters and how
many vessels granted access require observers.
Other maritime opportunities for work
Information on opportunities to work as seafarers on overseas ships is not available. Like
access to seasonal work in Australia and New Zealand, these opportunities are strongly
influenced by the ‘first mover’ advantage. The countries with a particular advantage have
have long-established maritime training facilities and close links to specific shipping
companies, as Kiribati and Tuvalu have to German shippers, for example. However, even
these advantages based on reputation and links cannot overcome emerging cost differentials
for recruitment. The high travel costs from the Pacific often results in preference being given
to higher wage countries such as the Philippines and the Ukraine.
Tongan Ministerial Visit to FFA (Forum Fisheries Agency), Honiara, Solomon Island, Press Release for
Consideration - Tongan Ministerial Visit. http://www.tongafish.gov.to/
51
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Chapter Eleven: Recommendations on how to identify skills in demand
We do not simply want to train people for white collar jobs. We need technical
experts who can convert our resources into goods and services that meet the
demands of our population.52
Identifying skills in demand has to be at the centre of a demand-focused training system.
Much criticism has been made of supply-driven training systems. As ADB report Skilling the
Pacific notes:
The demand, or employer, side is under-represented in the planning and
direction of TVET systems. Similarly, communities tend not to be involved in
identifying training needs for the informal sector. As a result, training
operates in isolation and is supply driven ...
A mental shift is needed. TVET should not be viewed as synonymous with
education. TVET is providing service and should be demand, not supply,
oriented.53
The World Bank’s guide to workforce development notes:
We assert that a "learn-to-do and do-to-learn" approach is essential in the search
for better outcomes in workforce development. It minimises what some writers
have referred to as the risk of ‘borrowing’ policies that may have worked in one
context and applying them in another with little adaptation or consideration of
local conditions ... [This] approach reinforces the notion that, in a field of still
evolving knowledge, successful reforms will require intentional learning by
national policy makers through systematic efforts to build domestic capacity for
policy design and implementation.54
Setting up a labour market information system is a complex undertaking that needs a clear
focus if it is to deliver a close link between the supply of and demand for skills.
Interventions on the supply side of skills training alone cannot by themselves deliver the
labour market outcomes wanted. These include giving TVET providers more resources,
restructuring their operations and applying more top-down management controls. The supplyside changes also include setting up a national qualifications framework and trainer
accreditation system. Training systems cannot reform themselves or build new capacity if left
to their own supply-side focus.
Only pressure or 'demand' from end-user groups such as employers, students, parents and
government can 'pull' better performance out of the system. Use of demand-side pressure on
service providers has the best chance of working in cases where the means and outcomes are
Speech by Governor Denton Rarawa at launch of the CBSI 2012 Annual Report. Kitano Mendana Hotel, 10
May, 2013, p 5.
53
ADB, 2009, Skilling the Pacific: Technical and Vocational Education and Training in the Pacific. Asian
Development Bank, Manila, p 125 & 128.
54
World Bank, 2013, What Matters for Workforce Development: A Framework and Tool for Analysis. SABER
Working Paper Series, Number 6, April, p 17.
52
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clearly understood and measurable at the point of delivery.55
Evidence on the nature and extent of demand for skills is needed to ensure that a balance is
reached between the supply and demand for skills. An unexpected strong demand for skills,
particularly in the short-term, could overwhelm the supply of training and start to undermine
capacity. Demanders of services may seek more or better services but fail to help with the
longer-term investments needed to build sustainable capacity for training providers.
Staff within the supplying organisations may became demoralised and opt out, in an effort to
escape any blame. Service providers, for their part, could lose balance. They could either try
to expand too fast or attempt to do too many things and in the process, lose coherence and
capacity. Or too much latitude could be given to the service provider and the organisation
may lapse back into self-serving behaviour. Persistent imbalances between demand and
supply could undermine the overall performance of the service provider.56
Evidence of the demand for skills for whom?
The chapter on skills forecasting started with a comment on how top-down, centralised
planning models of the demand for skills are no longer regarded by policy makers as
necessary or useful. The current view of the World Bank and others is that: ‘... skillsdevelopment systems need to grow organically from below while being coordinated and
fostered from above’.57
Three approaches to collecting evidence of skills in demand
A key issue in developing appropriate indicators is to know their purpose. Three approaches
to the use of data on skills can be identified: planned, incremental and emergent. 58 The use of
data on skills for planning purposes enables a government agency to allocate and coordinate
resources to the training providers. This focus shapes what data are collected and by whom.
This top-down management approach assumes that system-wide objectives can be clearly
defined, targets can be set to meet these objectives and that training capacity can be easily
shifted to meet the targets. The senior managers in the coordinating agency assume they can
control and manage the process directly and that the training providers can and will respond to
what is asked for.
A planned, top-down approach to the delivery of training is needed to some extent, if only to
compete for funds within the government’s budget process. However, a sole reliance on a topdown approach requires that a number of supporting conditions hold. These include a widely
shared consensus about policy and direction; the resources to pay for the support systems; and
clear and achievable objectives.59 Also needed are good activity-based accounting systems to
track unit costs, outputs and outcomes.
Heather Baser and Peter Morgan, 2008, Capacity, Change and Performance Study Report. Discussion Paper
No 59B, April, European Centre for Development Policy Management, p 68.
56
See Note 62, p 69-70.
57
World Bank, 2012, World Development Report 2013: Jobs. Washington DC, Box 5.8, p 177
58
The following discussion of these approaches and the use of indicators draws heavily on Heather Baser and
Peter Morgan, 2008, Capacity, Change and Performance Study Report. Discussion Paper No 59B, April,
European Centre for Development Policy Management, pp 68-80
59
See Note 62, p 77.
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A second approach to the use of data on skills in demand can be termed incremental. This
approach is based on the principles of adaptiveness and flexibility in implementation.
Strategies can still have pre-set objectives and goals, but they function more as guidelines
than as actual fixed targets. This approach works best in situations where conditions are
unstable and the choice of strategy is difficult to clarify. Senior managers in the coordinating
agency may be uncertain about a number of factors affecting the capacity and performance of
the service providers, such as institutional constraints or staff commitment. Evidence of the
operation of the service providers to learn what works under different conditions. This allows
a more responsive system to be developed through trial and error. This is especially important
where there are conflicting interests and attitudes on the part of service providers.60
The third approach to the use of evidence of the demand for skills to produce a demand
response training system can be called emergent. As discussed above, a planned change relies
on good system-wide data, prediction, goal-setting, hierarchical structures and top-down
strategy. An incremental approach relies on information which enables adaptiveness, learning
and adjustment. The emergent approach is better suited to situations where the behaviour of
service providers is difficult to manage in a top-down fashion. In these situations, the driving
forces for change are relationships, interactions and local energy.
A directive, top-down approach has real limitations because often there are too many
unknowns. The best starting point for achieving a close link between training providers and
employer needs is likely to be at the local area or community level. This is where face-to-face
relationships and trust are the most robust and where changes can be more easily achieved
through the efforts of individuals.
Growing the skills system from below
Forming a group of interested parties, which may involve senior teachers from a secondary
school, training providers and employers at a local level, can make the most of a shared sense
of meaning or values and a collective identity. A local group also offers those involved a good
sense of a manageable area of joint activity. The group will also need some basic rules of
conduct, some resources to track performance, and a protected space that allows for some
freedom of action.
The focus of this approach is on a bottom-up coordination by nurturing relationships and then
waiting for results and capabilities to emerge. The usual top-down mechanisms of clear
objectives, explicit strategies, scheduled activities, and targets are not applied. The aim is to
use indicators to develop local capacity to coordinate training to maximise employment
outcomes, making good use of community cohesion and energy.
The emergent approach to the use of evidence on skills in demand is to make them part of a
process of fostering local level coordination. This evidence could produce variable results as
the participants take time to develop the skills needed to sort out problems. The emergent
approach is not good at getting a set of tasks done in a short period of time. The approach is
likely to fit uneasily with donors and senior managers in government who want to see more
control, direction and accountability for results.
60
See Note 62, p 78.
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Operating at different levels
In practice, evidence on skills in demand is needed at different levels of activity. Data on
skills in demand are needed to assist with the central allocation of funds on the basis of clear
criteria and objectives. Information on skills in demand is also needed by a central agency to
respond to the differences in capacity between training providers and to move each in the
desired direction to meet the skills needs of employers. Finally, data should be collected and
used at the local level to enable effective connections to be made between supply and
demand. These data should be about employer skill needs and the labour market outcomes of
TVET graduates.
Framework for the assessment of skills gaps across countries
The following framework for the assessment of skills gaps and qualification across countries
is based on the use of two core concepts. The first is the use of skill-based occupation
classifications, as defined by ISCO. The second is the use of the indicator of post-school
education attainment of job holders in skills based occupations. These concepts can be applied
using census data to identify skill shortages by detailing the specific occupations of foreign
workers. Skills gaps can be identified by comparing the post-school qualification rate of the
national workforce in specific occupations with the post-school qualification rate of foreign
workers in the same occupations.
These concepts can also be used as the organising framework for other data collection and
data analysis exercises to update and provide more detailed or more up to date information
where it is needed. The census results have particular advantages in terms of their coverage
and capacity to look at small numbers in important occupations and seek out more
information about sex, age, location, and levels of education attainment of the job holders in
those occupations. But the census is an expensive means of data collection. Also, as the
census takes place once every five to ten years, the information may soon be out of date as the
value of census data on occupations also depends on careful attention to the coding of job
descriptions to produce reliable occupational classifications. This is harder to do for the large
dataset that a census collects for a country the size of Solomon Islands, compared with a
smaller national sample of the population.
The same concepts of skill-based occupation classifications and post-school education
attainment can be used to organise other data collection and data analysis to build on and
provide more detail for the baseline census data. The following framework for collecting and
analysing data to identify skill shortages and skill gaps starts with the data that is easy to
access and analyse, then it gives attention to the analysis of secondary data from national
surveys. The third level of focus is on the direct collection of relevant information on the
demand for skills not available from existing administrative and national surveys. The types
of data that can be collected, their sources and specific information that can be collected are
outlined in the table below.
Making use of existing administration records & national population surveys
The available data sources that can be utilised to identify skill shortages are administrative
records on the work visa applications for foreign workers and job advertisements. Also
available are likely to be national infrastructure plans which identify current and future large
construction projects. Official national population surveys based on random samples are
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another valuable source of information on occupation and qualifications, and wage rates by
occupation. Two types of surveys that will provide these data are the Household Income &
Expenditure Survey and the Labour Force Survey. The latter is likely to be more common
than the former. The information on jobs has to be coded to ISCO and released at the twodigit level given the size of the sample.
Wage data by occupation and qualification even at this level should be able to show whether
those in trade occupations with a post-school qualification have higher wage rates. This is to
test whether enterprises are also trapped in a cycle of low wages and low skills. This is a
rational response of employers to little prospects for growth in low income markets. The
effect is that employers see little need to lift the quality of the goods and services they are
providing. Employees, without an incentive of higher pay for skills attained, also may see
little value in investing in skills training.
New data collection is also needed
Survey of enterprises
Key issues to cover
Current job vacancies
Longer term skill shortages and workforce skill gaps
Wages rates by occupation
Occupations of foreign workers, if any
Recent employment growth/decline
Expectations of jobs growth, decline, stability for next three months
Willingness to provide work placements or experience with them
Relations with TVET providers
Suggestions for better relations with providers
Graduate destination survey
Key issues to cover
Current employment status
Description of job & industry
Wages
Previous jobs, wages
Match of qualification field of study to job
Assessment of training received
Open-ended responses re skills used on job, & needed on job
Suggestions for improvement to skills training
Two forms of data are also needed to find out directly from employers as to whether they are
experiencing skill shortages and workforce skill gaps. The issues to be covered in a survey of
enterprises are outlined below. Another important form of data collection is to find out
whether recent TVET graduates are in paid work and whether this work is matched to the
skills they have been training in.
A graduate destination survey is also a valuable vehicle for getting graduates’ own assessment
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of a range of aspects of the training they received. The survey of enterprises should be
undertaken on a yearly basis. TVET providers should undertake graduate destination surveys
for each training program they deliver. However, a larger scale national graduate destination
survey on a three-yearly basis will be needed to cross check the information the smaller
program-level surveys have provided. This survey is also valuable for collecting more
comprehensive data on graduates’ labour market experiences and their assessments of the
value of their training and its relevance to their current job or other activities they are
involved in.
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Type of data
Sources
What type of data
Collect & analyse data from existing admin records or national survey data
Immigration or
Occupation of foreign worker &
Work visa approvals
Labour Dept
name of employer
Newspapers
Job advertisements
Current & planned major employment generating
projects
National Provident Fund data on contributors
Household Income & Expenditure Survey
Government
gazette
National
infrastructure plan
Solomon Islands,
Vanuatu, Kiribati
& Tuvalu
National Statistics
Office
Occupation, qualification & work
experience required
Employment numbers by skill level
for each project
Data on occupations & industry if
coded to these categories
ISCO template for collecting
information on occupations
Requires use of ISCO to code
jobs descriptions
Information about use of
foreign workers & opportunities
for skills transfer to national
workforce
May need active encouragement
to code occupations in
particular
Wage data by occupation &
qualification
Requires use of ISCO
Requires use of ISCO
Need to convert ANZSCO to
ISCO
Labour Force Survey
National Statistics
Office
Wage data by occupation &
qualification, study field, size of
employer, match between
qualification study field of study &
occupation
Skill shortages lists in Australia & NZ
Aust & NZ
Immigration
website
Information on specific occupations
in demand
Collect & analyse new data
Database of enterprise contact details & employee no
Survey of enterprises
Graduate destination survey
Survey of enterprises
Richard Curtain, 18 Nov 2013
Input needed
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Table A10.1: Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List Schedule 2, Skilled Migration
Visa, Australia, July 2012
Selected Australian Middle-skill Occupations in demand
Agricultural Technician
Fisheries Officer
Primary Products Inspectors not
elsewhere classified
Apparel Cutter
Floor Finisher
Print Finisher
Arborist
Florist
Printing Machinist
Architectural Draftsperson
Furniture Finisher
Quarantine Officer
Baker
Gardener (General)
Roof Tiler
Blacksmith
Gas or Petroleum Operator
Safety Inspector
Bricklayer
Graphic Pre-press Trades Worker
Sail Maker
Broadcast Transmitter Operator
Hairdresser
Saw Maker & Repairer
Building & Engineering Technicians Hardware Technician
School Laboratory Technician
Building Associate
ICT Customer Support Officer
Screen Printer
Building Inspector
ICT Support Technicians
Shoemaker
Butcher or Smallgoods Maker
Landscape Gardener
Signwriter
Cabinetmaker
Life Science Technician
Small Offset Printer
Cabler (Data and
Telecommunications)
Light Technician
Sound Technician
Camera Operator (Film, TV or Video) Maintenance Planner
Surveying or Spatial Science
Technician
Chef
Make Up Artist
Telecommunications Cable Jointer
Chemistry Technician
Clothing Patternmaker
Clothing Trades Workers not
elsewhere classified
Meat Inspector
Mechanical Engineering Technician
Mechanical Engineering
Draftsperson
Telecommunications Linesworker
Telecommunications Technician
Communications Operator
Medical Laboratory Technician
Construction Estimator
Metal Casting Trades Worker
Cook
Metal Fitters & Machinists nec
Musical Instrument Maker or
Repairer
Vehicle Body Builder
Dressmaker or Tailor
Nurseryperson
Vehicle Trimmer
Earth Science Technician
Optical Dispenser
Veterinary Nurse
Electronic Engineering Draftsperson
Optical Mechanic
Wall & Floor Tiler
Electronic Engineering Technician
Panelbeater
Web Administrator
Electroplater
Pastry cook
Wood Machinist
Engraver
Fire Protection Equipment
Technician
Picture Framer
Wood Turner
Diver
Television Equipment Operator
Textile, Clothing & Footwear
Mechanic
Toolmaker
Vehicle Painter
Power Generation Plant Operator
Table A10.2: Selected middle-level occupations and required work standards for visa
Richard Curtain, 5 December 2013
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applicants with an offer of work, from the 'Immediate Skill Shortage List', effective 5
December 2011, Immigration New Zealand
Occupation
Middle-level occupations
Group
Required standard for work visa applicants with an
offer of employment
Agriculture and Arborist
Forestry
Trade Certificate AND/OR National Certificate in Horticulture
Arboriculture Level 4 AND a minimum of two years’ relevant
experience
Construction Construction Project Manager (Foreman)
(Roading and Infrastructure)
At least five years’ experience in building or
maintaining roads & Staff management experience &
appropriate drivers licence
National Certificate in Surveying (Hydrographic
Surveying) Level 4
Construction Surveying Technician (Spatial Science
Technician/Hydrographic
Technician)
Bachelor or Diploma of Surveying
Construction Surveying Technician (Spatial Science
Technician/Land Surveyor's
& two years’ relevant work experience
Technician)
National Diploma in Engineering Level 6
Engineering Civil Engineering Draughtsperson
OR equivalent
Electrical Engineering Draughtsperson
Electronic Engineering Draughtsperson
Mechanical Engineering Draughtsperson
Café and Restaurant Manager (including Bar National Certificate in Hospitality (Operations
Recreation,
Manager)
Supervision) Level 4, & a minimum of four years’ combined
Hospitality
experience in hospitality establishments with a minimum of
and Tourism
two years at supervisory level or higher
Trades
Baker
National Certificate in Baking (Craft Baking) (Level
4) OR National Certificate in Baking (Inshore/Franchise)
(Level 4)
Trades
Electronic Equipment Trades Worker
National Diploma in Engineering (Electrotechnology) (Level
6) AND New Zealand registration with the Electrical Workers
Registration Board
Trades
Motor Mechanic (General) (Automotive
Technician)
National Certificate in Motor Industry (Automotive Electrical
and Mechanical Engineering) (Level 4) with strand in Light
Vehicle OR National Certificate in Motor Industry
(Automotive Engineering) (Level 4) OR NZ Trade Certificate
in Automotive Engineering OR NZ Trade Certificate in Motor
Mechanics AND three years' relevant experience
Trades
Motor Mechanic (General) (Automotive
Air Conditioning Technician)
National Certificate in Motor Industry (Automotive
Specialist Engineering) (Level 4) with strand in Heating,
Ventilation and Air Conditioning OR National Certificate
in Motor Industry (Automotive Air Conditioning) (Level 4)
AND three years' relevant experience
Trades
Motorcycle Mechanic
National Certificate in Motor Industry (Automotive Electrical
and Mechanical Engineering) (Level 4) with strand in
Motorcycle OR National Certificate in Motor Industry
(Motorcycle Engineering) (Level 4), OR NZ Trade Certificate
in Motorcycle Engineering AND at least three years'
experience
Trades
Scaffolder (Advanced)
National Certificate in Scaffolding (Level 4) with strands
in Advanced Scaffolding and at least five years’
experience since obtaining the Level 4 Certificate
Transport
Truck Driver (General)
NZ recognised Full Class 5 Driver Licence and three years’
experience driving heavy combination vehicles with a gross
combined weight of more than 25,000kg
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