This assessment is largely an exercise in applying “theory” (labour demand and supply influences) to “reality” (the needs of employers in the industry).
You are require to analyse the external labour market, economic, social and public policy factors that are likely to have an impact on the demand for and supply of labour for organisations within your chosen industry (or industry sector), and make evidence-based recommendations as to how these organisations can respond to such external factors.
Some issues you need to consider are:
Defining your industry: Irrespective of either a broad or narrow definition of your chosen industry, there needs to be more than one employer. The Australian Bureau of Statistics uses the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) to identify industries and industry sectors (Cat. no. 1292.0: see URL
https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/1292.0Contents12006%20(Revision%202.0)?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=1292.0&issue=2006%20(Revision%202.0)&num=&view=) Generally organisations that carry out related productive activities are grouped together to identify an “industry” (Divisions A to S) and specialist business units engaged in similar productive activities are grouped together to identify “industry sectors”.
If you choose a wide industry definition you will have an increased number of occupations and/or professions to contemplate. The more narrow your industry definition the fewer occupations and/or professions to discuss, which should add to the depth and quality of your Report.
You need to justify to the reader your definition of the industry selected.
Industry background and status: Overviewing your selected industry allows for an understanding of labour demand factors. Is the industry expanding? If yes, this might indicate growth in the demand for labour. If the industry is contracting, this might indicate a fall in the demand for labour.
Type of labour demanded: Understanding the occupations and/or professions employers in the industry need allows you to identify the skills demanded. The hours of operation of employers also influences the demand for labour (full-time, part-time, casual etc). See the Australian Department of Education, Skills and Employment’s “Labour Market Information Portal” for some useful data on these issues URL: https://lmip.gov.au/
Supply of labour: Understanding the sources of labour for the industry should generate discussion how the demand for labour might be satisfied. Here the demographic profiles of the workforce for the industry (e.g. skills, education and training requirements, gender, age, health, language, ethnicity and cultural diversity) should be discussed.
Evidence-based recommendations: Any recommendations you make should reflect your discussion and analysis of labour demand and supply in the body of the Report. Note the Report and Summary Sheet marking criteria where you must highlight and make recommendations the industry’s workforce diversity concerns.
Introduction and Conclusion sections: Properly constructed, it should be possible to read just the introduction and conclusion of your Report to comprehend the key points of the discussion, the analysis, and reasons for your recommendations without having to read the full Report. These two sections should be revised after you have finalised the body of your Report, so that they both reflect your discussion and signpost (for the introduction) and summarise (for the conclusion) the more important issues canvassed in the body of the Report.
