Major skills shortage on the horizon if we don't reverse apprenticeship slowdown

We’ve seen a great deal of coverage of late about the plummeting number of apprenticeships in Australia, with the most worrying falls in the traditional trades — like electrical.

We understand that there are so many questions you have to ask yourself when considering putting on an apprentice, like how it could enhance, or hurt, your business, or whether it could end up costing you more than it could make you. And that’s before you even think about how to find the right candidate, and then how to keep the right candidate. Getting an apprentice through their four years isn’t always an easy task!

Unfortunately, as of March, trend estimates showed a decrease over the previous three quarters for trades commencements, which has business groups warning there will be significant skills shortages in the not-too-distant future.

In Australia, the number of people starting apprenticeship training fell by almost 20% throughout 2015. Four years ago, there were 516,000 people in apprenticeships and traineeships, but at last count, that number stood at 278,600.

So as it stands, there’s never been a more important time to put on an apprentice, so we have developed a new program — Master Electricians Mentoring — aimed squarely at turning this worrying trend around.

But to compound an already worrying situation, completion rates are also falling, with half of all apprentices throwing in the towel before they make it to the end.

This dropout trend costs your business time and money, it costs the electrical industry time and money, and it costs the federal government time and money. You are investing in up to four years of on-the-job training, so finding, and hiring, the right candidate has never been more critical!

Master Electricians Mentoring, which replaces the current ApprenticeConnect, is a multilevel, joint initiative with recruitment company Add Staff, which allows both teams to combine their industry expertise to develop an electrical apprentice recruitment and mentoring service, aimed squarely at getting this apprenticeship slowdown back on track, and getting you the best value for your investment.

Our goal to increase apprentice completion rates and minimise the impact of apprentice cancellations is supported by a structured recruitment process for apprentices, which is a critical element for determining apprenticeship suitability, incorporating aptitude and job suitability assessments, combined with face-to-face interviews to ensure the apprentice fully understands their four-year commitment, before they get started.

Master Electricians Mentoring has been designed so that it can do the hard work for you, by preselecting three apprentices to meet the needs of your business. The recruitment services have been developed specifically for the electrical industry and include:

• electrical apprentice aptitude and readiness assessments;
• Harrison’s Career Assessment tool, which compares candidate answers against the criteria of hundreds of job titles, including over 500 Australian apprenticeships and traineeships. This assessment tool is part of the federal government’s Gateway Services initiative;
• face-to-face interviews with experienced recruitment specialists;
• reference checks, identification verification and apprenticeship eligibility criteria evaluation.

But on the flipside, we can all remember how daunting starting a new job is, and how much we relied on the positive guidance of others, so apprentice mentoring will also form a key component of this revamped system.

Apprentices can flourish with the right guidance — it’s one of the fastest ways to build strong self-esteem among younger workers: the very people we desperately need to take the reins in the coming years. Advice, support and constructive criticism from trusted mentors is critical to creating skilled workers. They don’t often figure this stuff out on their own!

The new system will provide support to employers and their indentured apprentices for the duration of their apprenticeship contract, alongside business administrative processes and compliance documentation.

Apprentices will have full access to:

• a dedicated mentor who will be their chief contact person throughout their entire apprenticeship, and who will include a monthly review to track their progression, the coordination of all off-the-job training and who will monitor the scope to make sure they’re getting a diverse offering;
• meetings to discuss college progression, eProfiling, government incentive entitlements and any general concerns they may have as they go along;
• completion planning, including help with their application forms to secure an Electrical Workers Licence, plus coordination of all parties to plan for an agreed completion meeting date, and a liaison to schedule tutorials and capstone bookings with their RTO;
• ongoing industry updates, special offers and rewards;
• access to events with like-minded apprentices.

Master Electricians Mentoring will reach further than ever before to create highly skilled electrical apprentices and create a brighter future for the electrical industry.

To find out more, head to the Master Electricians Mentoring information page on our website.

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