Apprentices an investment in country’s future
Hundreds of Taranaki apprentices are celebrating progress in their chosen careers with the awarding of certificates that mark training and education achievements.
Many are listed here on these two pages. Their numbers and the variety of those certificates illustrate the value and importance of what apprentices are doing.
Apprenticeships are an investment in New Zealand’s future – both economically and within the community, according to Industry Training Federation chief executive Josh Williams. The ITF is the national body for New Zealand’s eleven Industry Training Organisations (ITOs).
‘‘They are focused on a future that includes becoming leaders in industry and the community, passing on their training to others, and saving up for a home,’’ says Williams.
There’s also a practical reason for people to look to apprenticeships for their career path. ‘‘We see a lot of advantages in getting young people into work and training on the job … earning and learning means they do not get into debt with student loans.
‘‘There’s a pay-it-forward aspect to it,’’ he adds. ‘‘The apprentices of today are the business owners of tomorrow; today’s business owners are the apprentices of yesterday.’’
Numbers of apprentices and trainees around New Zealand are healthy, he says – 43,000 apprentices and 105,000 trainees – but there are still skills shortages in critical areas, including engineering, construction and aged care.
Williams is keen to see more and more young people with a career pathway in front of them. ‘‘There are opportunities in a huge range of sectors not just traditional trades or low-level occupations.’’
He notes statistics that say three in 10 young people go on to university after school. ‘‘There are no universities in New Plymouth.’’
There are challenges to get more employers to engage with the system, he says. ‘‘There are 25,000 businesses throughout NZ; and, by our estimate, 15 per cent of those employing more than one person are engaged with industry training organisations and getting people trained on the job.
‘‘We would like to improve on that, to support more employers to go from no to yes, to encourage young people to learn how to be a worker.
‘‘Look at the future in Taranaki … in Hawera or New Plymouth, who’s going to run our towns, farms, engineering-type trades, heavy automotive? To support local industry, we need trainees and apprentices … the engineering sector is screaming out for good people.’’
The ITO system is a very efficient way to deliver good people to jobs, he says. ‘‘That’s the advantage of the apprenticeship model … it’s about giving young people a chance to gain skills under the wing of an experienced person.’’
And an organisation like Taranaki Futures makes that process easier. ‘‘Taranaki Futures are doing one of the really outstanding jobs around the New Zealand regions linking young people, tertiary providers and employers.’’
Providing those connections for young people is important for building the workforce of the future, says Taranaki Futures general manager Warwick Foy. ‘‘It is vital that we recognise these skilled people, because there has been a longstanding bias in our economic and education systems away from practical jobs and trades.
‘‘In actual fact, many of these jobs are rewarding, highly skilled and in great demand.’’
In 2016, there were 1120 New Zealand Apprentices in Taranaki and 2910 Traineeships.
Apprentice numbers are subject to economic cycles, Williams notes. ‘‘After the GFC (Global Financial Crisis), the numbers of apprentices and trainees in the system almost halved … to about 100,000 in total. ‘‘Now they are almost 150,000.’’
‘In 1987, apprentices made up 1.6 per cent of the New Zealand workforce; in 2015 that figure was still 1.6 per cent.’’
Gaining a New Zealand qualification also offers skills portability – they are recognised anywhere in the country. ‘‘That’s a key message for teenagers. New Zealand qualifications are well recognised and trusted by industry – top to bottom.’’
Employers have expressed concerns about that portability, Williams admits. ‘‘They say ‘If I train them, they’ll leave’.’’
But having a skilled and trained workforce is an advantage for industry as a whole, he emphasises. ‘‘Skills that are transferable are part of that.’’
In other countries, there is a big push back into the apprentice system, he says. ‘The Swiss and Germans have many more employers engaged in what they call dual training – combining work and vocational training … and their economies seem to be going quite well.’’
Taranaki Futures chairman and employer Steve Scott emphasises that businesses have to invest in young people.
‘‘Industry needs quality tradespeople coming through,’’ says the owner of stainless-steel and sheetmetal fabricating company Rivet. ‘‘It’s up to the employer to make that investment in future skills for their business.’’
He notes his own beginnings as an electrical apprentice.
‘‘I always think that someone gave me a chance … and you get to train someone with the skills for your own business … a custom fit.’’
Scott says he could just have easily been a plumber or a builder. Any trade skills are transferrable, he points out, and a trades person could upskill to become multidisciplinary. ‘‘You are not stuck in one area forever.’’
There is a huge demand for skilled tradespeople in all categories, he says. That’s a nationwide problem and Taranaki faces the same issues.
Taranaki, however, is very pro-active with its partnership between Taranaki Futures, the Engineering Taranaki Consortium and the various ITOs. ‘‘People are starting to realise that being a tradesperson is not the guy who didn’t make it at school.’’
Rivet has four apprentices progressing through their four-year apprenticeships each year, he says. As one becomes fully qualified, another starts their first year of learning.
That flow of people works well for the business with natural attrition accommodating the incoming apprentices. ‘‘Some existing tradesperson will reach 65 and want to finish; others go on to another career,’’ Scott explains.
He is proud of this successful process. ‘‘One of our goals is to keep training people. And to see them pop out as a really good tradesperson is a great feeling in itself.
‘‘We are really supportive of training in the workplace, full-stop. Apprenticeships are where it starts and we will continue to do that.’’