OUR RESOURCES

At some point in our lives, there are things that may not turn out to be what we expected.  Whether it is what we want or not, some things are just not meant to be.  And this, too, goes with the apprenticeship.

In Australia, the apprenticeship is the start of building a career path. It combines time at work with training and can be completed full-time, part-time or while you are still at school. From community services and health, travel and tourism, communication and information technology, financial services, agriculture and horticulture, and government, you can land a better job position and qualification when you enter the apprenticeship. 

Here are the benefits of getting an apprenticeship in Australia.

• • You can earn a wage while learning a skill. 
  • Develop practical skills specific to the occupation or industry you are interested in
  • Gain a nationally-recognised qualification which is the basis for further education and training over the course of your working life.
  • Increase your value as a professional and qualified employee.
  • And a whole lot more!

The traditional pathway to build a career is to enter an apprenticeship and complete 4 years of training to obtain a qualification. These qualifications are the basis to climb the ladder for a higher position – which means, higher salary and perks. 

Without a doubt, an apprenticeship is the best way to start your career pathway. But, there are cases of non-completion of apprenticeship. According to a report, half of all tradies were not able to complete their apprenticeship contracts. At this high rate, there must be a reason for apprenticeship termination.

Luckily, we have here gathered the key REASONS why tradies do not finish their apprenticeship.

Loss of employment

We can not overstate the influence of the employer on the non-completion of apprenticeship. In fact, when the tradie lost his employment, the apprenticeship contract is now terminated. Losing employment may have key factors such as low performance at work, inefficiency, or just being unhappy in the job role or workplace. Added to these is the recurring pandemic that has adversely affected many businesses which impact the employment rate. 

Started a family

Once the tradie started a family, priorities may shift including the career.  Traditionally, a young family will have one of the couple who will be left at home to attend to the kids. Getting a nanny in Australia can be costly and not easy because of the requirements imposed by the government. 

Didn’t like the trainer or trainer didn’t like the trainee

When there are issues arising between the trainer and trainee, the usual escape of the trainee is to leave the apprenticeship. One reason may be displeasure with the quality of the teaching or the treatment of the trainee in the classroom. It was common practice in the early 2000’s for trainers to encourage employers to terminate training contracts if the trainer didn’t like the trainee’s attitude towards the training or their work ethic. 

Limitation in location

Some tradies that are into the mining industry may experience a limitation in location as the industry is traditionally located in a remote location or site.  Getting an apprenticeship in a FIFO arrangement may be stressful due to the location of the site with implications such as longer time away from home or family, being alone, and etc. Similarly, some tradies may be located in a rural location and could not undertake a time to a trade school.

Outdated trade course

If the tradie was not provided with an informed choice, chances are they may be able to land an apprenticeship in the outdated trade course. The outdated trade course is not helping the tradie improve or build his career pathway.  Some apprenticeships that started before 1998 may belong to an industry not considered as current. Thus, it is important to choose the best school so that you can ensure that you are on track to build a great career and qualies.

Unrecognised trades

If the trade is unrecognised, tradies may opt to just terminate the apprenticeship. Some trade courses were not recognised 5 years ago so you may need to check with your school. Otherwise, they will be wasting time, money, and effort over the years of training on the unrecognised trades.

Bonus!
Transitioned to another trade

Some tradies transitioned to another trade over the course of their career. For example, a mechanical fitter may shift to a diesel fitter or an automotive mechanic to a mobile plant mechanic.

PLUS — bonus bonus reason
Society needs change

Yes, that is right. If we want success, then society needs change, as well as the needs of the engineering trades industry to keep up with the needs of changing technology and human consumer habits.

Regardless of the reason for non-completion of apprenticeship, tradies should not be denied the opportunity to obtain the qualities they need for the job they deserve.

We at Trade Skills Australia ensure that every tradie will be given the opportunity to the job that matches their education and skills and starts building a great career.  We understand the challenges that may come along with the apprenticeship but we are dedicated to providing excellent and intensive skills assessment services that help them gain better employment opportunities within Australia.

Is it time to get the job you want with the qualification you need? Contact us and find out how we can help you today!

OUR RESOURCES

Australia’s skilled labour shortage, and possible solutions.

You may have heard that Australia is experiencing a national skills crisis, but what many don’t want to acknowledge is that there may be a simple solution to the problem.

We’ve all heard the tired argument that migrants are taking our jobs (which has been disproven time and time again), but the conversation is now shifting. More people are acknowledging that migrants may be the solution to Australia’s skills shortage.

In fact, some are saying there is no shortage at all when you factor in all of the experienced, yet unemployed migrants in Australia.

There are, sadly, hundreds of thousands of skilled migrants out of work in Australia. This data shows that there were an estimated 1.9 million migrants in Australia in 2019, and yet only 68% were employed. That leaves over 600,000 migrants in Australia that are out of work and instead of being able to work in their chosen field, are taking any jobs that they can find (food delivery, uber etc.) because they are being overlooked by Australian employers in their chosen fields.

These migrant workers are often significantly more qualified for the available positions than the state average, but despite this fact, the unemployment rate amongst this group is almost double the country’s average.

Generally, when there are shortages in certain industries, the pay wage in that sector skyrockets in an attempt to draw in applicants to bridge the gap.Whereas currently, the opposite is happening. For the past decade wages growth in this sector has been the slowest on record.

So if skilled labour is in such short supply, why aren’t the industry wages being raised by desperate employers trying to find the workers they need?

Food for thought!

What is being done to help migrant workers get and maintain work in Australia?

The Morrison government has decided to extend certain types of work visas in an attempt to make it easier for skilled migrants to remain in Australia and to continue working in critical sectors (including labour skills).

Minister Hawke has stated that “The changes complement the Government’s recent announcement that fully vaccinated eligible temporary and provisional visa holders may enter Australia without a travel exemption from 1 December 2021,”. He also added that
“This is a special concession recognising those highly skilled migrant workers who chose to stay in Australia throughout the pandemic, while continuing to address Australia’s acute shortages. This allows them to stay here, with a pathway to Australian citizenship,”.  

How does this help the skills shortage?

As we mentioned above, there are hundreds of thousands of skilled workers in Australia, willing and ready to help. Extending their visas and allowing them to stay in Australia longer means there are more opportunities for them to fill the gap and help relieve the pressure in their industries. 

What can you do?

If you are an Australian employer in an industry experiencing a skilled labour shortage, the best thing you can do to rectify the situation and keep your company afloat is to not overlook migrant workers who apply for open positions. If they are qualified, have the required level of experience and have good references, give them a go! 

What Trade Skills Australia do to help lessen the impact of the skills shortage?

We help migrants who are qualified in other countries gain their Australian qualifications through RPL to make the process of finding work easier. We offer qualifications for a wide range of in demand trades including:

• Boilermaking
• Welding
• Industrial Painting
• Fitting
• Machining
• And several more! You can find a full list of the qualifications we offer here.

In addition to the qualifications we offer, we have also developed a network of global relations to ensure that we always have the answer, no matter the circumstances. We are the only company like us that we know of who have spent as much time and energy building these relationships and ensuring that we can help as many people as possible.

You can find a more in depth list of the most in demand skills in Australia here.

Bottomline:

Although we are experiencing a skills shortage in Australia, there are plenty of migrant workers who have the skills, knowledge and know how to change this, employers just need to open their minds and give them a chance.

If you are a migrant worker who is internationally qualified and looking to get certified to Australian standards via RPL, we can help! Simply head to the contact us page and reach out! We’d love to help.

If you aren’t sure what RPL is, or would like some more information on how it works, you can read more here:  https://tradeskillsaustralia.com.au/recognition-of-prior-learning/

* You can find more information from the Morrison Gov here
** For more information on the skills crisis, click here

Is it time to get the job you want with the qualification you need? Contact us and find out how we can help you today!

OUR RESOURCES

In December 2021, energy giant Worley announced that it is pivoting to a high value solutions provider with a major focus on sustainability.

They further highlighted their key aspirations, which focused heavily on “fostering an inclusive, safe, inspirational and innovative workplace as well as committing to reaching net zero scope one and two emissions by 2030 played a key role”, according to an article by oil and gas today.

Whilst Worley’s current low- carbon energy sources come from nuclear power and integrated gas, the company aspires to expand this to include low-carbon hydrogen, power networks and renewable energy.

Investing in carbon capture use and storage and green hydrogen is also on the companies agenda.

And they aren’t the only company trying to minimise their carbon footprint by implementing greener strategies.

Mining giant BHP are also trying to improve their impact on the environment by exiting the oil and gas industry. This is a huge step for this company, as they are one of the world’s largest resource companies.

They have made a $40 billion deal with Woodside Petroleum to offload it’s entire oil and gas portfolio. This merger will include BHP’s entire petroleum division across Australia, North Africa and the Americas.

The merger is expected to be completed by June 2022, but is still awaiting approval by shareholders.

When asked for a quote on the demand for the industry to make greener choices, Trade Skills Australia’s Compliance, Sales and Marketing Director Layke Rossiello said “Innovation is a key to success in the current changing climate of the engineering trades workers. With these new construction projects, and new approaches to minerals in general, there’s no shortage of need for all of the engineering trades across Australia. Tradies that think outside the square and bring their own green practices to their work environment would certainly be looked upon favourably when they’re ready to enter the job market for their completed qualification”.

Are you looking to get your trade certification? Trade Skills Australia can help. We can help you gain your Mechanical trade certificate, and a vast variety of other qualifications via RPL, to help you get your dream job.

Want to read more? Head over to the articles section on our website for more interesting reads.

Is it time to get the job you want with the qualification you need? Contact us and find out how we can help you today!