NECA applauds wage subsidies plan for apprentices

NECA WA, the industry body representing the interests and concerns of over 3600 electrical and communications contracting businesses across Western Australia, applauded the Rudd government’s $145 million plan to subsidise apprentice wages — but urges both federal and state governments to do more to help the flagging job market.

Following several months of absorbing downtime for electrical apprentices who could not find work, Electrical Group Training Ltd (EGT), the largest electrotechnology group training organisation in Australia which employs over 700 apprentices in WA, was recently forced to stand down 16 probationary apprentices because of an ongoing lack of demand for labour from the industry. This is the first time in the company's history that it has been forced to put apprentices back on the waiting list to commence their trade.

Peter Tuck, Chief Executive Officer of the NECA WA Group, said: “Any assistance that will enable employers to keep hiring apprentices is a positive step. During hard times, it is usually always the most vulnerable employees who are the first to be retrenched — in our industry, this means apprentices. Employers take decisions to retrench apprentices very seriously, but sadly it’s often the only option. The concern for industry and all Australians is that if we don’t do something to fix this, the present skills shortage will only get worse still.”

Electrical contractor John Sweeting of Westwide Electrical Services said: “It was often said during the years of the mining boom in WA that we were partly held back because we didn’t have sufficient skilled labour resources. That’s why we were bringing in electricians from around the world on 457 visas. If no one is employing apprentices now, what will we do once the next boom begins?”

NECA urges both federal and state government to also consider additional policies that will make apprentices even more attractive to employers, including exempting apprentices’ wages from workers compensation premium calculations and discounts on motor vehicle registration.

Tuck said: “These initiatives have already been introduced in other states and seem to have achieved some success. At the very least, it cannot hurt to try. The consequences of doing nothing will cause more pain in the long term.”