Solving the spatial skills shortage: the rockstars of neurodiversity

During the 2023 New Zealand Esri User Conference hosted by Eagle Technology, our Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Michael Krome, presented a talk titled “Solving the spatial skills shortage: the rockstars of neurodiversity.” Michael spoke about the opportunity neurodiversity brings to the geospatial and engineering industries–both in meeting current and future skills shortages whilst creating enormous social impact for a large group of disadvantaged young adults.

Unfortunately, people with autism have one of the highest unemployment rates in Australia - a staggering 34%, 10 times higher than the national average. However, they are well aligned with the geospatial and engineering professions as they are 48% faster at pattern recognition, 92% more productive and accurate, and provide innovative and diverse problem-solving.

The geospatial profession is in the middle of a severe skills shortage, with a recent paper by Consulting Surveyors National outlining the need for 1,500 additional surveyors and geospatial professionals every year. Imagine what could be possible if we could align the amazing cognitive skills of the neurodivergent mind with professions in dire need of a skilled and proficient young workforce?

Michael said,

“We have a supply and demand issue. Today, we have a large pool of untapped resources. They don’t have access to our typical recruitment and qualification processes to gain workforce participation. But there is such a need in the industry for more surveyors and geospatial professionals, with big skills shortages across those sectors. But this is where bringing both of those challenges together, we can make not just social impact, but economic impact as well.”

In this video, you will find out how your organisation can also access the special talents of neurodivergent people while making an enormous difference in their lives.

You can learn more about ASA at our Data Services and Talent Services pages.