Large increase in number of female and older apprentices
Older people, Ma¯ ori, and women all became trades apprentices in large numbers as the pandemic played havoc with the economy last year.
There were just over 57,000 trades apprentices in New Zealand at the end of last year, a growth of 12,000 or 17.6 per cent on the year prior, according to newly released data from the Tertiary Education Commission.
That growth was in part spurred by a large increase in apprentices outside of the typical apprentice: older people and women.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins, who has ploughed huge amounts of cash into making apprenticeships free, said it appeared many were making career changes. ‘‘Apprenticeships are traditionally seen as something you do out of school, but with free trades training we are seeing a big jump in workers aged 25 to 39 taking the opportunity for a career change,’’ Hipkins said.
There were 3730 more apprentices aged between 25 and 39 at the end of 2020, a growth of onefifth on the year prior, and 1510 more who were 40 or older – a growth of 28.3 per cent.
Growth in Ma¯ori and Pacific apprentices is outpacing the growth in other ethnicities – there was 28 per cent more Ma¯ori apprentices than the year prior and 29.2 per cent more Pacific apprentices, compared to 16 per cent growth for other ethnicities.
‘‘The number of Ma¯ori and Pacific apprentices grew almost 30 per cent last year, which will benefit the economic development of their communities for years to come,’’ Hipkins said.
The growth was coming from a low base however – in absolute terms there were just over 3000 new apprentices who were from Ma¯ ori or Pacific backgrounds, and 6300 from other backgrounds.
Women are also becoming apprentices in greater numbers, with 30 per cent more female apprentices at the end of 2020 than in 2019. Again, the growth was from an extremely low base – there was still far more men coming into
trades training than women, 6790 more men in 2020 and just 1635 more women.
‘‘These numbers show we are producing a vibrant and diverse trades workforce that will support New Zealand’s economic growth as we recover from the impacts of Covid-19,’’ Hipkins said.
‘‘The Government has backed the trades with more than $320 million invested in free trades training, and nearly $100 million going to support employers retain apprentices and take on new ones through Apprenticeship Boost.’’
‘‘That investment has paid off with double-digit growth in apprentice numbers during 2020, despite the impacts of Covid-19. We are seeing people taking the opportunity to becoming apprentices no matter what their age, gender or ethnicity.’’
Hipkins said early data for 2021 was also promising.
The Government has ploughed much of its tertiary education spend and political focus into trades training despite campaigning on making all tertiary education free in 2017. After a somewhat low pickup for the first year of ‘‘fees-free’’ study – and some political opposition to funding academic students for all three years – Hipkins dropped the goal to make three years of academic study free, committing instead to trades training.