There has been a significant drop in the number of school leavers deciding to take up apprenticeships. In the year to December 2023, building and construction apprenticeship commencements fell by 22 per cent. However, this comes as Australia is facing a dire shortage of construction workers. According to a study, 72% of employers in the construction industry said they could not find the workers they needed.

So what is behind the lack of apprentices, and what can be done about it? Thanks to Tradie Magazine and the Master Builders Association we explore this issue.

While COVID-related incentives saw an increase in people taking up apprenticeships, this trend has since reversed. 41,935 people commenced apprenticeships in 2023, compared to 54,035 in 2022. During this time, the number of people completing apprenticeships also dropped by 15 per cent.

Without an increase in apprentices, Australia will be unable to address its current shortfall of construction workers. According to Master Builders Australia, the construction industry has an annual exit rate of 8 percent, but only half of that is being replaced. More than half a million new workers are needed in the construction industry in the next five years, and two-thirds of these will need to be skilled tradespeople.

Apprentices make up about 10 percent of Australia’s construction workforce. Additionally, the majority of construction workers entering the industry are apprentices. Therefore, attracting more apprentices is crucial to filling the skills shortage facing the Australian construction industry.

Various factors have contributed to the drop in the number of apprentices. Parents are increasingly advocating for their children to attend university, which has led to a perception that vocational training is subpar to university. This is despite the fact that apprentices are paid to learn their trade, while students must pay to attend university.  Additionally, there are cultural issues around not completing Year 12.

There is also a lack of exposure to trades in the school curriculum. In addition, most school career advisers have attended university, so they may be less familiar with pathways into the building and construction industry.

Many apprentices are left to navigate their training without adequate mentoring and support services. This contributes to low apprenticeship competition rates, which are currently 50%.

In addition, employing apprentices comes at a high cost. Many construction businesses are small in size; 98 percent of building and construction businesses employ less than 20 people. Therefore, they are reluctant to take on apprentices due to the time, resources and cost associated with training them.

How do we encourage more people to take up apprenticeships?

In a recent report, Master Builders Australia made several recommendations to increase the number of apprentices joining the construction industry. These include:

• Reintroducing an incentive system for apprentices with commencement and competition bonuses
• Introducing incentives to encourage industry upskilling from a Certificate III to a Certificate IV
• Investing in programs that provide clear and practical information on what an apprenticeship and future career pathway in the industry could be
• Expanding support programs for women in construction
• Introducing a tiered wage subsidy to support mature-aged apprentices and reflect existing skills

In addition, they believe there should be more construction-based work experience in schools. This would give students a taste of what it is like to work in the construction industry and hopefully improve the competition rate of apprenticeships.

Australia will not fulfill its construction workforce unless we can recruit and retain more apprentices. Therefore, it’s important to find ways to encourage school-leavers to enter the construction industry.

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