Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Gus Gilmore: Te Pūkenga CEO on the concerns that more than half of apprentices aren't finishing their training

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Gus Gilmore: Te Pūkenga CEO on the concerns that more than half of apprentices aren't finishing their training · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right. It turns out a trade apprenticeship isn't the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: hal Mary. Some think it is. Over half of our
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: apprentice trainees in New Zealand drop out before they complete
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: their course. Last night, Vocational Education Minister Penny Simmons told
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Ryan Bridge how much we've wasted on it. It's tens
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: of millions, probably getting close to hundreds of millions, so
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: it's quite a lot of money. But it's a waste
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: all round. Really, it's a waste for the government, but
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: it's also our waste for the employer. So Johnavan now
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: is the CEO of tipper Kinger Gus Gilmore, good morning to.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: You, Gus, Good morning Andrew.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Is the money spent on your thing a waste?
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Look? I think the initiative from the minister she announced
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  Speaker 2: yesterday is a really good thing. We need to continue
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  Speaker 2: to research thoroughly why we're losing apprentices and a key
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: to there is first year attention rates. That's the canary
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  Speaker 2: in the mind for us. And we've seen a steady
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: decline in those first year attention rates. Why due to
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: a number of factors.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, why.
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  Speaker 2: The main categories from the research we did in twenty
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: twenty three, the first one is the system level type
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: factors where the apprentice and the employee don't have control
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: over things like training, wage rates, low pay, economic climate
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: where simply apprentices are unemployment and lose their job due
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: to the downturn in our economy. Second major area is
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: government compliance and immigration policy settings, so in some sectors
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  Speaker 2: it's not a requirement to have apprenticeship qualification and we
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: see in those areas of our economy the dropout rates
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: are higher. And then the third major category is government
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: incentives and apprenticeship boost scheme is a really good one.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: During twenty during the COVID period, there was an incentive
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: which paid employers to attract and retain apprentices. Unfortunately, that
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: turned into a bit of a sugar rush and we
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: saw huge growth and apprenticeship numbers, but the completion rates foul.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: So the ball is in your court. You're here to
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: train our next generation of workers. Can we fix it?
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah? And there is an emerging positive picture. As I said,
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  Speaker 2: the canary in the mind is our first year attention rates.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: Last year in twenty twenty four, we saw those first
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  Speaker 2: year rates move from sixty percent to seventy percent. So
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: we're going to see more apprentices completing over the next
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: three four years of their apprenticeship program, but important initiatives
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: likes providing support in the workplace. Two apprentices is important.
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: Apprentice is feeling valued, having the right culture in the workplace,
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: providing mentors from industry, those experienced people wrapping their support
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: around our young people learning on the job.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: Good stuff, Gus, I thank you so much for your
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: time today and I wish you were the very best
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: of luck.
• 3:06
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• 3:09
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• 3:12
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