His concern: with the massive restructuring, cost-cutting and down-sizing in NZ businesses, and the creation of SOEs from government departments over the last 15 years, the trade training that was offered young people by these large concerns is now only a fraction of what is needed. It was big business and government departments which used to take on the young people to give them work experience and a work ethic. They now do not appear to be offering young people a start with a defined training programme.

And with the increasing foreign ownership of many of NZ's larger businesses, and the government getting out of the "business of business", the question needs to be asked: who has the commitment to invest long-term in the skills of young New Zealanders?

One of the other features of the recent restructuring process has been the contracting out of specialised skills or maintenance tasks to small self-employed contractors (often ex-employees), or to bring in already trained people from overseas. Fraser says the contractors are just not big enough to be able to take on the training component for the next generation of workers -- a component that the larger firms have provided in the past. And he believes that it is not in our national interest to depend on imported overseas labour.

His challenge: What is the current generation of employers at large doing to allow the new young generation to get their initial start up the ladder of skills and experience? We hear a lot about the lack of skills amongst the unemployed but who is taking the responsibility of giving these young people the opportunities to get ahead? And what is the government's involvement in this challenge?

Fraser: "The reason private providers are establishing is the claim that the polytechs are not responding with the right training and information required. We should straighten this out, and not put a lot of energy into providing alternatives. The polytechs need to get on board and become customer-orientated, and not create a training vacuum themselves"

Fraser believes that Polytechs by themselves are not enough: "They are no substitute for the on-the-job learning and practical experience that has to be provided within the real world of industry..."

Because today's business is now spread across a whole range of smaller separate contractors who don't have the capacity to take on individual apprenticeships, the trades need to organise themselves to spread apprenticeship training opportunities across several employers.

Fraser says the good news is that the Group Training concept already has many successful examples operating in the building, electrical, plumbing and engineering fields. They were based on similar training schemes in Australia, and designed to combat barriers to apprenticeship training which meant many smaller employers were not taking on apprenticeships. Fraser: "We need to extend these initiatives to have a co-ordinated approach in all the traditional apprenticeable trade training areas "

Source _Vivian Hutchinson interviews with John Fraser 6 and 9 April 1998

The scheme has the potential to:

increase the number of apprentices and trainees available in a given region or industry

widen the scope of training available to those apprentices and trainees

provide an alternative to traditional apprenticeship systems for employers who would like to contribute to employing and training young people

Hundreds of apprentices in NZ are currently being trained and leased out in this way. Fluctuating work demands often prevent businesses and tradespeople from being able to guarantee a longer-term indenture commitment to a young person. But employers say they like the Group Training scheme because it enables them to choose when, how long and how often an apprentice is placed in their company.

How does it work? The Group Training agency is the legal employer of the apprentices. The agency places employees with a company for a mutually agreed period of time, and then relocates them with another participating company.

The company pays the agency for the time the apprentice works. This charge usually carries a premium for other costs such as holiday pay, sick leave, ACC levies, polytech fees, and tools and clothing expenses. The agency often offers employees counseling support and liaison with government authorities.

GROUP TRAINING CONTACTS:

Auckland Engineering Apprenticeship Trust
Ivan Fisk
phone 09-636-6601

Mike Latter,
Napier Engineering & Contracting Co.

P.O. Box 2004, Napier

Mark Heimgartner
Gartner- Superlux Ltd
phone 09-636-6092

Electrical Training Co. Auckland
Peter Rushworth
phone 09-527-6165
fax 09-527-6166

Building and Construction Training Orginisation
Steve Robinson
phone 09-378-9049

Auckland Master Plumbers
phone 09-579-5660
fax 09-525-0169