TRADE APPRENTICESHIPS DOWN

The release of the NCVER apprentice and trainee statistics for the March 2009 quarter show a fall of 4.7% in commencements in traditional trades such as automotive, plumbing, construction or carpentry over the last quarter and a massive 21.2% decrease in commencements over the last 12 months.
Employers are struggling to retain their apprentices, let alone being in a position to take on new apprentices. Labor short-changed apprentices in the last Budget, breaking an election promise to retain all existing subsidies and payments, and this will haunt them into the future as skill shortages become rife.
By abolishing the apprenticeship training voucher and failing to introduce any measures to help employers retain apprentices, the Rudd Labor Government is
setting Australia up for significant skills shortages as the economy recovers.
It remains to be seen whether the requirement for companies undertaking projects funded by stimulus payments to have 10% of their workforce consisting of apprentices will have any impact. This requirement has been a longstanding pre-requisite for State Government contracts but has not usually been enforced.
At the time of the last Budget the Opposition proposed a targeted approach bringing forward incentives for employers to the first 2 years of a traditional trade apprenticeship and we encourage the Government to take up our proposal to help increase the number of Australians commencing a trade apprenticeship.

Via http://www.liberal.org.au/news.php?Id=3726