No-job apprentices: government dangles $155m in carrots

With apprentices losing their jobs as the economy declines, the federal government has stepped in with a $145.6 million package to encourage employers to take them on again. ‘Securing Apprenticeships’ offers employers and group training organisations incentives of up to $2800 per apprentice, on top of the $4000 or more companies can already receive for employing apprentices. Education minister Julia Gillard said the package would provide employers with a wage subsidy of $150 a week for 12 weeks, paid at the end of the 12 weeks, if they took on eligible out-of-work apprentices or trainees. Further $1000 incentives will be paid to employers for apprentices and trainees who successfully complete their training. The payments are backdated to the beginning of this year, and apply to apprentices and trainees in a broad range of "skill need" fields, studying at or above the certificate III level. They’ll be maintained until the end of 2010. Gillard said the government would also encourage employers to support apprenticeships through its own hiring practices. “In tendering new Australian government-funded infrastructure projects, preference will be given to businesses which demonstrate a commitment to retain and employ new trainees and apprentices,” she said. Gillard also announced a related $9.7 million package, Securing Apprenticeships through Registered Training Organisations, designed to help out-of-work apprentices and trainees to complete the off-the-job component of their training. The two-year initiative, which starts in July, provides training organisations with either $1250 or $2500 – depending how much training is still required – for each apprentice or trainee who completes the course. Gillard said the package was driven by the medium-term needs of industry, as well as the immediate needs of apprentices feeling the sharp end of the economic crisis. “For skilling opportunities that are dependent on employer investment, history is not comforting,” she told the Sydney Institute late last week. “As demand and cash flows fall, spending on training can be the first to go. During the downturn of the early 1990s, the number of Australian apprentices reduced sharply, by as much as 20,000. Even at the height of the boom, in the mid-years of this decade, we struggled to achieve the numbers of apprentices hired before 1990. “In other words, the temporary downturn in skilling contributed directly to the long-term skill shortages that constrained the Australian economy in recent years. We must avoid this boom and bust cycle in human capital investment. Just as we are acting through stimulus to counter the cycle of contraction in general demand, we must counter the downturn in skills investment that will otherwise hurt individual chances and national resilience.” Gillard’s spokesperson said the package had been in the works since the last COAG meeting in late November. The announcement followed a joint call by Group Training Australia (GTA) and TAFE Directors Australia (TDA), earlier in the week, for the government to help protect apprentices and trainees facing dislocation. GTA CEO Jim Barron said the initiatives came at a critical time and would provide much-needed assistance. “The message coming back from GTOs around the country is that the trickle is starting to turn into a stream of host employers handing back apprentices, or not taking on as many in the first place. We’ve got to make sure we maintain the nexus between the apprentice and the employment and training experience. If they are to be stood aside, we want them to be provided with some intermittent financial support, at least, to allow them to continue their training.” TDA executive director Martin Riordan told Campus Review the situation was worst in the resource states, with a drop-off in training contracts of up to 74 per cent in Queensland and 49 per cent in Western Australia. Barron said he’d heard similar figures. “Building and construction and trades under that umbrella are hurting the most in states like Queensland and WA,” he said. Heather Ridout from the Australian Industry Group told ABC Radio the package was well-directed, timely and necessary. “It won’t solve the whole problem but it will go a long way to putting in place the sort of services and support required,” she said. Peter Anderson from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry told ABC Radio that while he wanted to see more done, the new package was a good start. “A period of two years allows businesses, institutions and apprentices to plan ahead. It assists employers in the retention of apprentices but is also realistic enough to recognise that there will be some apprentices who lose employment,” he said. “We must take steps as a community to not move those apprentices into unemployment but into the completion of their trade training.” Wollongong-based federal MP Sharon Bird, who chairs the House of Representatives standing committee on education and training, told CR that industry had learnt its lesson from the last downturn. “I’m really heartened that the view of industry across the board, from what I’m hearing, is that they’re not going to walk away from training and development and then have a skill shortage on their hands when the upturn occurs. “I’m hearing that very strongly from lots of employers. For example, Bluescope here in Wollongong have about 60 apprentices, and they’ve said they’re absolutely committed to keeping them on. That’s encouraging, but it’ll be far more difficult for those in small and medium businesses.” Opposition training spokesperson Andrew Southcott told ABC Radio the government hadn’t explained what effect the package would have on the jobs market. “This is a very small amount when you stack it up against the $42 billion, which after all, they said would only support 90,000 jobs. My question to Julia Gillard is, how many apprentices’ jobs will this save.”

No-job apprentices: government dangles $155m in carrots

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