Dynamic Business

The Federal Government will spend $155 million on creating incentives for employers and group training organisations that take on trainees and apprentices who have lost their jobs in the downturn. Support includes wage subsidies for those organisations that hire trainees.

Australian Chamber of Commerce Industry spokesperson Peter Anderson says that while more could be done, the move is a good start. “It both assists employers in the retention of apprentices but is also realistic enough to recognise that there will be some apprentices who lose employment,” he said.

“We must take steps as a community to not move those apprentices into unemployment, but rather try to move them into the completion of their trade training.”

However, the funds won’t save a significant amount of apprentices, says Opposition employment services spokesperson, Andrew Southcott. “This is a very small amount of money when you stack it up against the $42 billion, which after all, they said would only support 90,000 jobs. My question to Julia Gillard is: how many apprentices jobs will this save?”

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