Major concern not enough being done to encourage people into workforces slammed by pandemic

There are fears workforces slammed by the pandemic may not be able to muster up the skilled personnel needed to staff future jobs.

Workforces on the frontline of the pandemic could be set to face a major skills shortage if something is not urgently done to raise the number of individuals undergoing training.

New data has revealed the uptake of Australians training in non-trade industries, such as aged care, child care and hospitality, has dropped 40 per cent since 2013.

Labor claims the data underscores a decade of government neglect in the sector, but the Coalition has been quick to discredit it as a scare campaign.

The number of people undergoing traineeships across areas at the frontline of the pandemic are down.

Figures from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) show to March 2021 the overall number of individuals in an apprenticeship or traineeship for a non-trade dropped to 119,228.

That’s down from 199,117 eight years ago.

Traineeships involve employment and formal training to individuals in non-trade or services sectors such as retail, hospitality, administration, child care and aged care.

Opposition skills spokesman Richard Marles said Australia was only now seeing the impact of cuts to the sector.

“Right across the country we are facing a skills crisis. Be it a butcher or a chippie, a child care worker or a cleaner, too many industries have been impacted by the Government’s near-decade-long neglect,” he told the NCA NewsWire.

Richard Marles said the impacts of the decline are only just now being felt. Picture: David Geraghty / NCA NewsWire

“What is worrying about these numbers is that critical industries have not been invested in over the last decade and we are now seeing the real impact of that.”

But the Coalition was quick to defend its record, with a spokesman for Minister Stuart Robert telling NCA NewsWire the government was a tradie’s “best friend”.

“We are putting record amounts of funding to support Australians to upskill both in trade and non-trade apprenticeships and traineeships,” he said.

“We have a range of programs and campaigns designed to encourage Australians to take up a skilled career either in the care sector or in trade apprenticeship.”

A spokesman for Minister Stuart Robert said the government was a tradie’s ‘best friend’. Picture: Gary Ramage / NCA NewsWire

The government is growing increasingly frustrated with Labor’s plan to fight the next election campaign on skills.

When asked about NCVER figures, a spokesman pointed to a 2019 ABC fact check and stressed Labor had “rorted” the system prior to its electoral downfall in 2013.

“With respect to Labor’s claims around reduction in funding for VET and numbers of apprentices, they are making claims that are very misleading and are well covered in this fact check done prior to the last election,” the spokesman said.

Policy changes by Labor in 2012 aimed at addressing concerns employers were rorting the system can be attributed to explaining some of the drop-off in traineeships.

“It is up to Labor to explain their dodgy numbers and why they continue to celebrate the period when they were in government,” the ministerial spokesman said.

The aged care workforce was at the front lines of the pandemic.

AI Group’s head of education and training, Megan Lilly, told NCA NewsWire the government’s JobTrainer program was a great first start, but long-term planning to address skill shortages and mismatches was needed.

“The JobTrainer initiative of the government in conjunction with the states has been well subscribed. This program has enabled many people to gain skills for employment in jobs across the economy,” she said.

“The extent of skill shortages and skill mismatches suggests much more needs to be done. Not only do we need more training, it needs to be well targeted and sustained for years to come.

“We need a decade plan to address not only just skills shortages, but future workforce development needs … We must plan and prepare for this to take advantage of our future.”