Australian manufacturing jobs were down 6.7 per cent over the last five years, and the sector only contributes 5.6 per cent to GDP despite some $4.6 billion of investment, according to new research by professional services firm EY.
Key points: Andrew Liveris, who has advised the Trump and Obama administrations, says public-private partnerships in manufacturing could create thousands of "new-collar workers" in Australia CSIRO boss Larry Marshall says science used in fighting coronavirus could lead to new jobs There are plans to build a new hydrogen plant in Tasmania to create jobs Even before COVID-19 exposed weaknesses in globalised supply chains, Australian manufacturing was failing to keep pace with countries like Israel, Singapore and South Korea, EY's chief economist Jo Masters said.
"It's a sector that has become a smaller employer, a smaller part of our economy over the last few years," Ms Masters told 7.30 as part of a new series on the education and jobs of Australia in 2025.