From the ground up

Our apprentice column provides an opportunity for PAC members to share their views, experiences and ideas, while providing insight for builders who employ them. This month’s question is:

Q: Are you seeing more young and/or female apprentices in the industry?

Name: Andrew
Location: Christchurch

I haven’t noticed a big increase in the number of young apprentices overall, but I have been working with a young fella who is fresh out of high school. He’s only 16 but he’s keen to become an apprentice.

I do know that a previous employer of mine preferred to take on apprentices who were a little older, as he felt they tended to be more focused on the job and made better decisions overall. 

Looking back, I started my apprenticeship about three years ago. I used to go to school one day a month and, at 35, I was normally the oldest one there. So even four years ago it seems like there was a high level of interest from younger people.

As a whole, I reckon the entire industry should be built around apprentices, as they do a lot of the physical work required on a building site. There are not many 50 or 60-year-old builders on the tools, so the graft normally falls to apprentices.

Name: Kane
Location: Auckland

Recently, I’ve seen a lot of apprenticeship interest from young people and seen a lot more around the job sites as well. I’ve also had several family members express an interest in getting involved in the industry, so I’ve set up a workshop at my place and I’m going to run a few one-to-one sessions for family or interested youngsters who fancy it. Having completed my apprenticeship, I feel like I owe one to the industry to help the next wave of tradies come through.

We need them too, as the building industry is booming at the moment. Right now, I’m working seven-day weeks just trying to keep up with projects.

Most of the time, I look around and I’m one of the older guys on site; and I’m only 30! The problem with that is that sometimes sites lack those wise older heads to make sure everything is being done correctly and everyone is falling into line. 

Something I think would help the industry is standardisation and increased access to information, as sometimes I get confused about which body (BRANZ, MBIE etc) is issuing which guidance, and what is most relevant.

Unfortunately, I’m not seeing many females on site but I’d welcome them into the industry with open arms. I think it’s a brilliant idea to get more involved. They reckon females are better at running a business, well I reckon they’d be better at running a site too!

Name: Hans
Location: Auckland

I’m seeing heaps more young apprentices around the job sites, particularly over the past year. The company I work for has recruited five new apprentices and all of them
are young guys. Before that, we had none, as we were getting most of our workers from overseas, but the border closure stopped that.

Right now, it’s easy to get into the construction industry. I know my company is crying out for workers. If anyone is interested, chances are they’ll get taken in, so I think that’s probably why there are more apprentices and younger people in the trade.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of workers are leaving for other parts of the country. They get a better wage in Auckland, but they prefer the lifestyle further down south – I’ve heard most are going to Wellington or the South Island. That creates a knock-on effect, whereby there are less experienced workers around, so companies have to recruit from a younger, less-experienced pool of workers.