Ministers talk up the trades to fill vacancies

School leavers are urged to consider a trade as the Government seeks to ease skills shortages.

Education Minister Trevor Mallard and other ministers have started talking up trades in a bid to end the perception they are less worthy than university degrees or other career choices.

The message comes as New Zealand struggles to fill jobs in more than 50 occupations, with the most serious shortages in construction and technical trades.

The problems are so severe, some industries estimate it will be years before there are enough fully-qualified workers.

Electrical Contractors Association general manager Ray Barbara said New Zealand could find work for up to 600 more electricians immediately, but there were 50 per cent fewer apprenticeships than during the 1980s building boom.

"In late 1987, before the [stockmarket] crash, there were 5000 electrical apprentices. In 1991, that was down to 800 and right now we are sitting at about 2500, so we're still only halfway back to where we were."

Labour Minister Paul Swain, who is also Immigration Minister, said the Government hoped to solve the problem through more industry training posts and modern apprenticeships, but that would not provide an immediate solution.

There were moves to attract migrants with skills in key areas, as well as luring home qualified New Zealanders living overseas.

This could be difficult as Australia faces the same shortages and is set to compete with New Zealand for skilled workers.

Unions have highlighted the 25 per cent pay gap between Australian and New Zealand workers as a big hurdle in convincing expatriates to return home.

The Government hopes to end the "second-class" stigma that has surrounded trades qualifications as opposed to university degrees.

Mr Mallard, Social Development Minister Steve Maharey and Mr Swain have all used recent speeches to promote trades.

Last month, Mr Mallard told WelTec he wanted to "break down the myth that technical and trades training is somehow second class".

"We need to push the message out there that this sort of training is critical, that a school leaver who opts for technical and trades training is as important as tertiary students who go on to degree programmes."

But Mr Barbara said the Government needed to match the talk with more money.

"Out of the billions of dollars that's being spent [on further education] only about $100 million goes into industry training and trades. We don't figure in the quantum."

The amount of money going into areas such as modern apprenticeships and other industry training was not enough to sustain new places, he said.

The Government needed to match higher education spending to skills shortages, and make sure courses and programmes were valuable, he said.

A Government review of Tertiary Education Commission funding was initiated last month after extensive criticism of the amount pumped into courses with little practical value.

Skill shortage good for someone

Lower Hutt auto technician James Davison reckons a skill shortage in his traditionally low-paid "blue-collar" trade is a sign of better things to come. "It had to happen. It's what the industry needs."

The 21-year-old is one of four trainees at Wellington's Star Mercedes. He is eight months into what he expects to be a three-year technician's apprenticeship, aiming for an A grade certificate that will allow him to run his own "shop".

He is paid - partly through a Government subsidy - to study, so doesn't have a student loan, though he does pay about $800 a year in course fees. He is paid $11 an hour and expects "at least" double once he qualifies.

The average pay for a mechanic in New Zealand is $35,000 a year. Higher wages - and if the shortage continues, apprentices will be hotly sought after - would definitely be an incentive.

"You don't get into this because of the money. Most of us do it for love. I might have been better off somewhere else but Mercedes are almost the holy grail of the car industry ... and long term I want to own my own garage."

More lucrative work in Australia, where mechanics can earn about $80 an hour, could sidetrack that dream. "If there was a job going I'd be on the plane tomorrow."

- NZPA