Upgrade to get richer quicker

Workers are increasing their education and skills to get ahead in the state’s wage market, leading to a higher-skilled and wealthier labour force.
Recent Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show more than half, or 57 per cent, of South Australia’s population aged between 25 and 64 had a higher educational qualification in 2008, compared with 43.2 per cent in 1998.
During the same period, the percentage of the workforce earning more than $2000 a week or $104,000 a year, increased by more than 5 per cent, from 1 per cent to 6.6 per cent.
The percentage of people with a bachelor degree or above almost doubled during the 10-year period, up from 12.2 per cent in 1998 to 21.8 per cent in 2008.
A 4 per cent increase in the number of people with an advanced diploma, diploma or certificate also occurred in the past 10 years – from 31 per cent to 35.1 per cent.
Flinders University National Institute of Labour Studies director Professor Kostas Mavromaras says workers’ pay does increase in line with gross domestic product but the roles and skills of the workforce have changed over time.
“We’re getting better and better educated, there’s no doubt about it,” he says. “We know that better-qualified workers are paid more.
“We know that the pay of people with more education has kept up quite well despite the fact that we have had many more people with a good education.”
Professor Mavromaras says an increase in supply usually leads to prices decreasing.
But the trend has not occurred with an increase in skilled workers and their salaries.
“I think it means we are having more jobs that need skills,” he says.
“That’s what keeps the wages up.
“But at the same time we are having more people with more skills, which stops the wages from increasing too fast.”
Professor Mavromaras says one of the reasons why the number of people with qualifications has increased is because people with skills or qualifications are paid more and workers are turning to study to earn a higher wage.
He says social views also, to a degree, have led to more people studying as more middle and low socio-economic families encourage children to study at university to improve their social standing.
The strive for an education also is steering students towards vocational education because employers are demanding staff have all the skills to get on with the job, rather than learning only what they need to on the job.
“Employers want workers with qualifications who know what (skills) they want them to know,” he says.
“They also know that some qualification provider has worked on these people and screened these workers so they do know skills.
“It’s not just so they are trained.
“Qualifications are a signal to employers in the labour market.”
