UnionsWA  has commented on the release yesterday by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) of a survey of employers that has tracked declining apprentice and trainee numbers while job qualification requirements rise.

Meredith Hammat, Secretary UnionsWA said:

“This latest data shows that more employers have jobs with a skilled qualification requirement, yet fewer employers are now taking on apprentices or trainees with fewer using recognised training.

“Employers and governments must do more to ensure that skilled, secure jobs in a modern economy are a priority.

“Clearly many factors are at play here - widespread use of skilled temporary overseas labour and the impact of TAFE funding cuts and fee increases are among those policy settings that need to be addressed.

“Significantly this research shows that the only improvement in the training is a rise in the use of unaccredited training.

“This suggests that the changes are creating perverse incentives for lower quality training.

*Data drawn from Table 9 “Survey of employer use and views 2015: additional data tables” NCVER, 2015 available here.