Tristan Stockton wants to be a sparky or a welder. Photo: Oliver Jacques.
The chronic shortage of tradespersons in Griffith has forced businesses to go to the Philippines and other countries to recruit welders, a situation most believe isn’t sustainable.
A new program by the NSW Department of Education and TAFE NSW is seeking to address this by encouraging local students to consider a career in the trades, partnering with Griffith businesses to introduce those in Year 10 to various career options.
On Thursday (6 March), a group of Murrumbidgee Regional High School students were given a tour of longstanding agricultural supplier Collier & Miller’s workshops by its engineering manager Paul Giovinazzo, who has been with the company for 33 years.
“The only way we can grow our businesses is through apprentices, and because there’s a lack of them in Griffith, we have to go overseas for workers,” Mr Giovinazzo said.
“There’s a lot of paperwork and cost with that, that’s why we value a program like this that encourages local students to take up trades.”
Students got up close to the action in the workshop.
Griffith High student Tristan Stockton, 16, seemed to be won over by what Mr Giovinazzo had taught him.
“I want to be either a sparky or a welder. You can make a lot of money with these jobs. I’d definitely consider a career at Collier & Miller,” Mr Stockton said.
“I’d like to do a school-based apprenticeship in Year 11 and 12; I prefer to do a job where I use my hands rather than sitting in a classroom all day.”
Katie Friedlieb works at the Department of Education’s Regional Industry Education Partnerships (RIEP) program, which is connecting school students with Griffith manufacturing and agricultural companies.
“This is a part of an eight-week program at TAFE. Students go to TAFE and they do some trade taster days in welding and they get some skills in it,” she said.
“They then have two days where they go on two tours each. They visit four businesses in total and meet different employers. This is our first tour. From term two onwards, they have to complete a week of work experience. It could be at Collier & Miller or one of the other businesses we have visited or it could be somewhere else in the region.”
Engineering manager Paul Giovinazzo (blue shirt) showed students the ropes.
Ms Friedlieb says the experience can teach students about the different pathways available to them.
“The students could choose to finish school after Year 10 and do an apprenticeship, they could do a school-based apprenticeship while doing Years 11 and 12 or they could finish Year 12 as normal and do an apprenticeship after that,” she said.
“There are some long-term outcomes, but they get to use these tours to get a taste of it before they sign up to an apprenticeship that they may or may not like.
“The employers are crying out for programs like this to address skill shortages.”
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