Gen Y Apprentices Wonder Y They’re Being Criticised

Friday, October 7, 2011.
By Stephanie Kay.

Recent criticism of gen y apprentices has angered Australian tradies, who say there's no problem with their attitude.


The 'Apprenticeships For The 21st Century' final Federal Government report (www.australianapprenticeships.gov.au/.../Apprenticeshipsforthe21stCenturyExpertPanel.pdf ), has found only 48 per cent of apprentices completed their apprenticeship, a statistic which has led some analysis' to criticise young Australians, despite the report warning non‐completion statistics can be misleading.



Comments in the media angered youg tradies.

















In a Sunday Telegraph report (http://www.news.com.au/business/worklife/teenagers-pulling-plug-on-trades/story-e6frfm9r-1226155557037 ), KPMG demographer Bernard Salt said the high drop-out rates are a result of Generation Y chasing high starting salaries.


“The rewards of an apprenticeship are medium- to long-term and that doesn't fit with the thinking of Generation Y, which has a reputation for seeking immediate gratification, particularly in terms of remuneration," he said.


"The pay rates need to be looked at and the benefits, such as no HECS debt, need to be better promoted."


Fourth year hairdressing apprentice, Jeri-Lee Ludwig said most first years need to live at home to afford to begin their education and says she wouldn't have survived her first year of training without her families support.


"It wasn't good, you work so hard for so little money, it was terrible."


Ms Ludwig, now in the final stage of her apprenticeship, said she earned more per hour while working part time in retail during high school .


She said although her workplace provided in salon training and at work TAFE assessment, she still payed all of her own educational fees which amounts to thousands of dollars.


"I was lucky because my mum said she'd pay for any of that stuff,” She said.


“Which was lucky because honestly, if I had to pay for it, I wouldn’t have been able to afford it, with only being paid six dollars an hour."


The 20-year-old Brisbane woman believes a pay later option should be available to apprentices to cover mandatory training costs.


"I know we get tool bonuses, you may get eight-hundred dollars (from the government) but that's solely to buy (expensive) tools, you can't really use that money to pay for other things."


She said the comments made by Mr Salt were stupid and many apprentices work hard to qualify.


"I think it's more the fact you get paid next to nothing, I don't think it has anything to do with our generation."

Queensland apprentices Trent Langmaid and Jeri-Lee Ludwig.

Garth Thefs, small business owner and qualified plumber of more than 30 years says he employed a 20-year-old apprentice when he struggled to find a qualified plumber to join his team.


He said he doesn't think apprenticeships have changed much from when he joined the workforce but believes more in school education needs to be available for up and coming tradespeople.


“One of the issues that I always think about, is that there’s no sort of aptitude test or something done in schools when kids are going through, for those that lean towards doing a trade,” he said.


“A lot of kids aren’t guided towards where they’d be better suited to.


“They think, oh yeah that’s a good idea ,let’s be a one of these, without actually looking into what it entails.”


The seasoned tradie says throughout his career, he has never experienced any problems with generation Y’s attitude.


"The guys I’ve trained and the other apprentices I know around my area working for other employers, all of them have been excellent because they want to be tradesman.


“They’ve actually gone and got their apprenticeships because that’s what they’ve wanted to do.”

Gen Y’er and adult apprentice, Trent Langmaid is due to finish his electrical apprenticeship in the upcoming months and he too doesn’t think dropout rates are a result of young people’s bad outlook.

“I knew when I started my apprenticeship (what I was getting into), he says

“I knew if you want to get somewhere in life you need something behind you, you need something concrete, that guarantees you a certain pay rate or guarantees you continuous work.

“I knew that I needed something like that to give myself a good start.”

Mr Langmaid says apprentices who left before completion usually do so because they find the educational side too difficult or aren’t suited to the industry, not because of money.

The Brisbane man chose to move back home when he started his apprenticeship to better cope financially and says most tradie’s know what to expect when starting out.

“Most people don’t do an apprenticeship because they think they’re going to get good money to start off with.

“Most people that start an apprenticeship know that they’re not going to get good money but they know once you get through your time that’s when you get the benefits.”