Building industry comments on apprenticeship data

Master Builders Australia has spoken out about the recently released National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) data, highlighting that there are only one-third the apprentices in the pipeline to meet the current and future skill needs of the building and construction industry.

“The latest data released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) highlights that the apprenticeship system is not meeting the needs of industry,” Wilhelm Harnisch, CEO of Master Builders Australia, said.

“Unless there is a dramatic increase in the number of people in skills training, then the building and construction industry is heading for a skills crisis putting billions of dollars of investment at risk,” he said.

“It will also place pressure on the building industry to rely on skilled foreign workers to fill the gap,” Harnisch said.

“The short-term skill deficit will come as a consequence of the 23% drop in the number of apprentices in training since 2010. The total number of apprentices in training in the building and construction industry has fallen each year since 2010 from 56,000 to 43,100 in 2014,” he said.

“This challenge to one of the major growth sectors in the economy is compounded by an annual exit rate due to retirement of 30,000 construction workers,” Harnisch said.

“This is a dramatic drop for an industry that will be one of the growth sectors in the economy and with an annual exit rate of 30,000 construction workers each year due to retirement,” he said.

“The challenge of meeting the future skill needs of the industry is reinforced by the Department of Employment projection that shows demand for jobs in the building and construction industry will grow by 83,500 to November 2018,” Harnisch said.

“The latest NCVER statistics shows that commencements have declined from 22,100 in 2010 to 17,200 in 2013 before an increase to 18,000 in 2014,” he said.

“While the near 5% increase in the numbers of young people starting an apprenticeship in 2014 is good news, it comes of an extremely low base and is way below industry requirements and belies the dramatic drop-off in commencements of 18.5% since 2010,” Harnisch said.

“A similar picture is painted with apprentice completions ranging from 11,100 to 14,500 each year since 2010. While there has been a welcome 30.6% increase in completions in 2014, it comes off a low base and is totally inadequate to meet the industry’s needs,” he said.

The challenge is to reform the apprenticeship system to ensure our young people have the opportunity to be part of the future of building and construction,” Harnisch said.

“To achieve this, new thinking is required to enable the industry and education providers to enhance pathways from school to apprenticeships and into rewarding careers in the industry,” he said.

“This must be complemented by a more flexible industrial relations system,” Harnisch said.