The construction industry needs to take drastic action to boost apprentice and trainee completion rates to secure skills for the manufacturing and construction sectors.

The AMWU Qld Branch has developed a proposal for construction industry leaders, industry groups and government to adopt a new collaborative approach to training up young Queenslanders.

“One of the biggest problems we have in manufacturing in Queensland is that after our metal mechanical and fabrication trades apprentices are trained up, they end up moving across to construction,” AMWU Qld Secretary Andrew Dettmer said.

“The construction companies say they can’t train the apprentices themselves, because of the short-term nature of their projects – but they can offer the better pay packets once an apprentice has finished their training.”

According to construction company Bechtel, there is likely to be a significant demand for up to 12,000 tradespeople in Queensland major projects construction within the next 3-4 years.

“Currently, the rate of training of apprentices in construction is nowhere near that,” Mr Dettmer said.

“The next industry with suitable skill sets is manufacturing and construction employers won’t be reluctant to recruit from our industry, even if they have to pay a premium for doing so.

“We’re calling on construction companies to shoulder their share of the financial burden of training young workers by sponsoring the apprenticeships of up-and-coming metal mechanical and fabrication trades apprentices.”

Mr Dettmer’s call comes days after QR National announced it would more than treble its apprentice trainee and graduate number and introduce a new ‘trade mentoring’ program for new recruits.

“QR National should be commended for taking a proactive approach to the training up of new apprentices, particularly those in regional areas where employment opportunities are limited,” he said.

“It’s that kind of commitment to training that we need to see across more sectors of the workforce if we’re to meet Queensland’s growing labour demands in the future.”

The AMWU’s proposal is available here.