Tech, culture key for WA’s future

A panel of business leaders has weighed in on how to tackle the major challenges facing Western Australia, including labour shortages and artificial intelligence.

Speaking at Business News' State of the Future lunch today, South32 chief technical officer Vanessa Torres said a positive workplace culture could ease some challenges associated with labour shortages.

“If you are looking for skills, it’s important you have a great culture,” she said.

“If you look at the labour pool, diversity and inclusion is the best response.

“We have so many people from different nationalities. If you want someone to work in technology, they don’t have to be an engineer; there are all sorts of people within our technology team who have come from all walks of life."

Ms Torres has more than three decades of mining and engineering experience.

Commerce Minister Sue Ellery said she was keen to gauge the views of the state's business community.

“A feature of our government – both under Mark McGowan and Roger Cook – has been our commitment to engage, listen and respond to the needs of our stakeholders,” she said.

“Events like today, where I can listen to the panel discussion and questions raised, are a critical way that we can stay in touch and hear directly from you about what you want your government to be doing.”

Ms Ellery’s positive intent was rewarded, with some of the state’s brightest minds outlining their thoughts on some of the big issues facing WA in 2024.

Ms Torres added that investing in leadership was critical in retaining quality staff.

These sentiments were echoed by Craig Mostyn Group chief executive Wayne Crofts, who highlighted the importance of having a ‘family’ atmosphere within the organisation.

“We have people working in farming scenarios, in our processing facilities and in our retail packing plants,” Mr Crofts said.

“I think all up, we have about 1,500 people across Australia, with seventy per cent of them having a language other than English as their first language.

“Ensuring culture is right is really important, as is using technology to engage different cultures.

“One of our core values is family, and family really talks about caring.”

While the emergence of artificial intelligence and increased digitalisation continues to dominate discussion around the state, there is a lot to be excited about, according to Sarah Bassett, who heads up software in Australia for Amazon Web Services.

Ms Bassett, who studied in the US state of Wisconsin, relocated to Perth for a role with Halliburton, before joining Amazon in 2017. Her years away from home have given her a solid perspective on what makes business in WA tick.

“One thing we get to do in this role is learn from our customers,” Ms Bassett said.

Marcus Tan, founder of Wellspring Group, a leading Australian social enterprise, said the state’s willingness to innovate was exciting but shouldn’t be rushed.

“I think what we need to do is hold our nerve, knowing that some of the things we do, like investments and innovation, take time,” he said.