In a world increasingly driven by skills, the traditional career trajectory—one job, one industry, for life—is disappearing. Instead, workers are constantly adapting, reskilling, and transitioning into new roles that didn’t exist a decade ago. The Australian job market reflects this shift in stark terms. According to Jobs and Skills Australia, over 90% of employment growth over the next 10 years will be in jobs that need post-secondary qualifications, and yet, critical skills shortages persist across multiple sectors, from aged care to cyber security.
This begs an important question: How do we prove what we know and what we can do?
Skills-Based Hiring: The New Imperative
The global economy is facing a reskilling emergency. Reports from the World Economic Forum highlight that 39% of workers’ existing skills will be transformed or become outdated between 2025-2030, yet many traditional hiring processes remain fixated on degrees rather than competencies. In Australia, around 45% of permanent migrants are working in jobs for which they are overqualified as reported by the Guardian. This mismatch is largely due to outdated hiring filters that exclude capable candidates who lack traditional credentials.
Enter skills-based hiring, a framework that focuses on demonstrated ability rather than rigid qualification requirements. Organisations of all types have already moved in this direction, removing degree requirements for many roles and instead assessing candidates based on competencies, micro-credentials, and practical experience.
Digital Credentials: The Largely Missing Link in VET
The Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector has always been the engine room of practical workforce skills—producing the electricians, healthcare workers, and software developers that keep industries running. But outdated methods of credentialing limit workforce mobility. A printed certificate might confirm course completion, but it fails to articulate the specific skills and competencies a person has mastered.
This is where digital credentials change the game. Unlike paper qualifications, digital credentials provide portable, verifiable, and granular evidence of skills, allowing workers to showcase their capabilities in real-time.
Digital credentials enable lifelong learning pathways. Rather than a one-and-done qualification, workers can stack micro-credentials across disciplines—whether it’s pairing project management with AI literacy or data analytics with frontline leadership.
A Competitive Advantage for VET Providers
For VET providers, embracing digital credentials is not just about keeping pace with change, it’s about enhancing the value of education. Leading institutions worldwide are already using modular, skills-first frameworks that allow students to leave with a portfolio of verified, job-ready skills.
A future-ready VET sector should focus on:
- Embedding industry-recognised digital credentials in qualifications.
- Partnering with employers to map real-world skills needs to training programs.
- Offering flexible, stackable credentials that support career pivots.
- Using AI-driven analytics to track workforce trends and align training with demand.
Overcoming Resistance: The Case for Change
Sceptics argue that digital credentials add unnecessary complexity or lack credibility compared to traditional qualifications. However, these concerns are fading as standardisation efforts gain momentum. Global frameworks, such as the European Qualifications Framework and Australia’s National Micro credentials Framework, are already ensuring recognition, interoperability, and trust in digital credentials.
More importantly, employers are demanding better visibility into candidates’ actual skills. With digital verification, hiring managers can instantly validate competencies rather than relying on ambiguous resumes or references.
Skills as the Currency of the Future
In our book Toolkit for Turbulence, we discuss how organisations must move beyond rigid structures to thrive in an unpredictable world. The same principle applies to education and employment. The future of work isn’t about what you studied years ago, it’s about what you can do today.
As we enter a skills-first era, digital credentials and skills-based hiring are not just innovations; they are imperatives. For VET, this means empowering learners, supporting employers, and modernising how we think about qualifications. The real question is not whether digital credentials matter, it’s whether we can afford to ignore them.
To be attributed to: Prof. Martin Bean, CBE, in collaboration with My eQuals
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