Skill Shortages Critical
VACC Senior Research Analyst, Steve Bletsos breaks down current apprenticeship and traineeship numbers in Australia.
Apprenticeships and traineeships have had a long history in creating a pipeline of skilled labour for Australia’s automotive industry. However, despite the Federal Government’s financial support and incentives in recent times, it is disappointing to see the number of apprentices and trainees commencing annually has fallen substantially across key automotive trades. This is especially the case in Victoria, where some apprenticeships appear to be in free fall.
The latest statistics from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) show a significant decline in apprentice commencements over the past four years. Notwithstanding the influence of COVID-19, nationally there were approximately 500 fewer light vehicle apprentices that commenced in 2020 compared to 2017, a 10.6 percent reduction. For Australia’s two largest states however, the situation is considerably worse.
In Victoria there were almost 1,200 light vehicle mechanical apprentices commencing in 2017, compared to 760 in 2020, a drop of 35.6 percent. New South Wales has also experienced a 14.2 percent decline over the same period.
