Work to be done but apprentices in short supply

“If you build it, they will come,” goes the classic line from Field of Dreams starring Kevin Costner. But when it comes to the future of regional New South Wales, the first question is – who will build it?

With a growing skills shortage threatening the delivery of billions of dollars worth of infrastructure projects across the state, the NSW Government has launched an initiative to hire a record number of new apprentices and trainees in roads and transport.

The broad spectrum of roles ranges from heavy diesel mechanics and civil construction through to project management and marketing and communications.

Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke encouraged Riverina locals to apply.

“This is a very welcome opportunity to train up locals and develop the next generation of skilled workers in the region,” she said.

But the challenge of finding people willing to take on a trade remains.

Wagga’s Ladex Construction Group managing director Richard Pottie said it was great to have training, but first you needed the “raw product”.

“You can throw money at it but you’ve got to have the people who will do it and trades stopped being ‘trendy’ back in the 90s,” he lamented.

“The outdoor masonry type trades are really struggling to find apprentices; bricklayers, renderers, stonemasons. All those trades find it very hard to find any young ones that want to take it on.”

The latest numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the unemployment rate continuing to fall to 3.5 per cent in June – the lowest level since 1974.

While this is positive news, it’s a growing problem for employers across the board who are desperate for staff.

The underutilisation rate (the sum of the unemployed and the underemployed expressed as a proportion of the labour force) is at its lowest level since 1982 at 9.6 per cent.

According to Business NSW’s Workforce Skills Survey released last month a staggering 93 per cent of businesses in the state reported a skills shortage, up from 73 per cent in 2021.

The NSW government has already opened up 70,000 free TAFE training spots and 100,000 free apprenticeships to lure in potential workers, but training takes time.

“It’s two years before you’re really starting to get any value out of an apprentice, but we need people now,” Richard Pottie said.

Many suggest an approach similar to the skilled migrant program introduced in 1949 to build the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme.

“We do need to try and encourage our own young ones, but also good quality tradespeople from overseas to come out here,” he explained.

“That also benefits the existing trades by having skilled tradesmen to work with, especially in those trades that are dying off, like stonemasonry.”

Business NSW agreed, applauding the increased investment in training and calling on the Commonwealth to step up migration.

“We simply do not have the workers to meet the needs of our businesses and coordinated action is needed urgently to fill those gaps,” regional manager Jane Laverty said.

“There’s no doubt we need the new Albanese Federal Government to not only increase the number of skilled migrants but also cut the complexity, time and cost for businesses to bring people to NSW and encourage the return of more working holiday makers and international students to make a contribution.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers indicated this week that he might support a plan to temporarily double skilled migration places to 200,000 but said there was no quick fix to the labour shortage.