Industry skills forecast and proposed schedule of work: Business services

Business Services is a broad sector that groups together a collection of job roles that facilitate effective business operations across the economy. These Business Services workers provide professional assistance to businesses in roles including compliance, conveyancing, human resources, information management, marketing, project management and work health and safety. Approximately 1.6 million individuals are employed in Business Services job roles, representing 13 per cent of Australian jobs. This illustrates the importance of this sector to the Australian economy.1 The Business Services (BSB) Training Package provides the competency standards for this wide range of job roles, as well as for a range of transferable skills that are required for workers in all sectors. Over the next five years, employment in Business Services job roles is expected to grow almost 3 per cent.2 This minimal growth (less than 1 per cent each year) reflects of the fact that some jobs roles are forecast for stronger growth (such as Human Resource Managers), and others forecast to contract (such as Project Administrators). The key drivers behind these changes are explored in the remainder of this report. The Business Services Industry Reference Committee (IRC) and PwC’s Skills for Australia work to ensure that the competency standards within the BSB Training Package are fit for purpose and serve the sector’s needs. Projects currently underway within the BSB Training Package are Technical Skills (for Legal Services; Conveyancing; Human Resources; Audit and Compliance; Information Management; and Marketing), Business Enterprise Skills (for the development of transferable skills that underpin all roles in the Business Services sector) and Work Health and Safety. Given that this scope of ongoing work means all elements of the Training Package will be reviewed between 2016-17 and 2019-20, there is no identified need for further work and this Industry Skills Forecast and Proposed Schedule of Work does not propose any further projects.