Skills shortage hits the headlines – news commentary by Andy McCourt

Prime Minister John Howard went on prime time TV news saying, “High Year 12 retention rates became the goal, instead of us as a nation recognizing there are some people who should not go to university. What (these people) should do is at Year 10 decide they're going to be a tradesman.” Cries of ‘too little, too late’ have been echoing in media and TAFE circles.

Whilst all engineering-based industries appear to be experiencing skills shortages, printing is suffering badly. The industry has an enormous employment capacity, spread over a broader mix of micro, small, medium and large-scale businesses. It is also spread out geographically. Mining, for instance, focuses on Western Australia and Queensland. A third-year apprentice maintaining heavy trucks and machinery can expect to be on $90,000 a year in WA – albeit for two weeks of 12-hour shifts followed by a week off.

TAFE hit hardest.
NSW TAFE Manager of Printing and Graphic Arts Programs, Allan Wetherell, (pictured) told me; “With regularity, I receive phone calls from employers asking if I know of any available skilled printers and bindery operators. Our teachers constantly field similar enquiries. This year we have about 70 printers, 24 bindery, 20 Prepress and 20 Screen apprentices. In 1992, our ‘bumper’ year, we had 250 apprentice printers alone.”

He continued; “In 1993, the number of printer enrolments halved, and has dropped steadily. This coincided with a number of factors such as a recession, the birth of the internet but most importantly a ceasing of funding for machinery updates. Our main challenge is attracting young people into print-based training. Having said that, our oldest apprentice was 52 when he enrolled and many fall into the ‘adult apprentice’ category.”

Wetherell praises the training programs offered by technology vendors, but notes that this ‘just enough’ non-indentured training often produces low wage employees, with some firms reluctant to spend time and money on training as they ‘might leave.’

This trend is confirmed in the Skills at Work www.newapprenticeships.gov.au report that has revealed the government’s $600 million a year training subsidy program has largely benefited low-skilled industries such as fast food, retail and hospitality rather than traditional trades, where there is now an acute shortage. Hungry Jack’s burger chain received $3.8 million in ‘new apprenticeship’ funds between 1998 and 2004, whilst Safeway Stores received $4.3 million over the same period. From this report: Due to the growth in New Apprenticeships outside of the traditional trades, their share of commencements has fallen from 25% in 1996 to 13% in 2003.

Training overhaul
Education Minister Brendan Nelson has flagged an overhaul of the way in which $1.8 billion of government training subsidies will be spent over the next three years. “We are in the process of reforming employer incentives for people who have achieved Certificate II,” he said.
Finger-pointing over the skills shortage has already begun, with Mr. Howard blaming the States increasing TAFE fees, and Mr. Beazley saying it’s the Federal government policies. Whatever, TAFEs are starved of funding. Twenty four new technical colleges are in the pipeline, but the Opposition says it’s a knee-jerk, “"The TAFEs are crying out for money," said Mr. Beazley, "two hundred and seventy thousand people applied for entry into TAFEs and couldn't get it because of chronic Commonwealth under funding of TAFEs."
Inevitably, immigration has been put forward as the short-term solution. Even incentives such as tax breaks and cheap housing are being put forward as ways to attract overseas skilled migrants. Whilst not discounting controlled immigration, Kim Beazley noted in The Australian:
“The Government needs to focus on the real reforms – investing in TAFE training and apprenticeships, improving tax and welfare incentives, retaining mature age workers and providing affordable childcare – reforms that will lift participation and give Australian workers better opportunities to improve their skills.”

MY CALL
The damage has already been done, and will take years to fix.

This is a heavily-charged political issue and can not be blamed on one side or the other. The TAFE funding cuts began under a Labor government (remember the ‘clever country’ policy – we were all going to be IT graduates), and has hit the wall under a Liberal coalition. The States must take some blame too.

Intoxicated by silicon snake-oil, promises of internet careers, service industries, of ‘knowledge workers’ enjoying working on keyboards from home and ‘smart jobs’ – the basic, essential and rewarding trade skills were shoved into the shadows. How many plumbers went bust in the dotcom crash? Not many, I’ll bet. They’ve used the internet to the benefit of their businesses and that’s what it is – it’s an adjunct to everything we do in our normal lives. It’s a way of communicating more effectively – not a total death-knell to traditional skills. The telephone did not kill off fitters, builders, plumbers and mechanics and neither will the internet.

As far as printing, packaging and publishing is concerned, we do a shocking job at promoting ourselves to men and women looking for rewarding, satisfying careers. In my local supermarket this week, I stood behind an impressive fellow in clean blue overalls with ‘PRINTER’ emblazoned across his shoulders. He was on his way to, or back from Fairfax Printers at Chullora. How many kids might look up at such a proud example and think ‘I’m going to be a printer one day.’

Instead, we have dumbed down the workforce over the past 15 years. Believing that information technology, services and hospitality will be the saviours, we’ve forgotten that someone needs to set up and repair the machines that make the information, someone needs to wire the fusebox, someone needs to understand the rheology of water. We have sold our youth short by saying it is enough to be a qualified waiter, fast food seller, clerk, shop assistant or coffee-maker and have diverted billions of taxpayers’ dollars in directions that have got us where we are – having to import skills from elsewhere. Hardly any dividend on that investment.

And immigration is the other side of the political coin. As many as 20,000 extra skilled migrants are mooted to be sought by Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone. Good luck to those who make it here but the fix is short-term, with high attrition rates. Migrant intake does boost economies – more taxpayers, more consumers, increased productivity – more voters (ultimately).

But the bedrock of prosperity for the printing and allied industry is in training both apprentices and established workers – re-skilling and then re-skilling some more. We need to portray our industry for what it is – exciting, clean, responsible, high-technology, progressive, harassment-free, well-paying and willing to invest in people. We’re printers and we’re proud.

It’s cock-eyed. We’re bringing in skilled workers for high-paying jobs and teaching our kids who don’t go to uni how to fill the lower-paid positions. Apprenticeships and TAFES are the answer.