Apprentices

The good news is the work has already begun. The State of the Nation Special Report: The Skills Shortage found a significant increase in the proportion of Members who have employed an apprentice in the past year - up nine percentage points to 73%.

• 58% of Members said they took on an apprentice to help with their workload.
• 40% of Members were very or extremely likely to hire an apprentice in the future, up from 31% last year.
• While 57% of Members said they’d lost an apprentice before they completed their qualification, retention rates are still higher for auto than other industries.

For all the positive news, there’s still a perception in the industry that automotive careers are unattractive to young people.

It’s time to flick the switch on that narrative.

What you need to know

• The proportion of Members employing apprentices has grown significantly over the past year.
• Our results tally with data from Australia’s National Centre for Vocational - Education Research, which shows the number of people starting automotive apprenticeships was up 32.4% between December 2018 and December 2022 (there were 4340 starts in the quarter ending December 2022).
• Except for commercial truck and mobile mechanics, every part of the aftermarket is hiring more apprentices than last year.

What you need to know

• Training the next generation is the top reason Members have taken on an apprentice (and it’s up seven percentage points in two years).
• While factors related to the skills shortage are still significant reasons for taking on apprentices, the figures have slightly decreased in the past year.
• There’s a notable increase in Members taking on apprentices because of the incentives available, which may indicate new measures by the Australian Federal Government have had a positive effect.

What you need to know

In their comments, many Members suggested finding good apprentices was as difficult as finding skilled technicians.

• Are we failing to talk up automotive careers? There is a growing belief among Members that automotive apprenticeships are less attractive than apprenticeships in other industries.
• Could pay be turning away potential apprentices? AAAA’s Automotive Technician Salary Benchmark Survey shows base pay in our industry is well below what apprentices can expect in other popular trades.

We have an opportunity to talk up careers in auto, rather than talk them down.

Having a positive message, and selling it well, is the only way we’re going to see young people return to the automotive industry in the numbers we’ll need to tackle the skills shortage over the long term.

We know from previous State of the Nation reports that people working in the automotive aftermarket love:

• Making customers happy.
• Having fun fixing problems.
• Getting to work with cars.
• Meeting new people every day.
• The diversity of the job.

It’s a great industry with a wide range of career opportunities. This should be our starting point.

What you need to know

• Members now appear to be significantly more willing to take on an apprentice in the future than in previous years.
• The intention to hire an apprentice has grown, particularly among larger businesses, where six in 10 are very or extremely likely to hire an apprentice in the future.
• These figures are encouraging as apprentices are our industry’s pipeline of talent. The apprentices of today are the automotive industry leaders of tomorrow.

Encouraging more girls and women into automotive apprenticeships is both an obvious way to move the dial on the gender imbalance and to widen the pool of talent to help us tackle the skills shortage.

88% of Members had no female apprentices while 11% reported having one or two (if you’re keeping score, 1% said they had three or four). Spray painting was the most common trade role filled by female staff (16% of Members with that role in their workshop had a woman in the job). The least common role for female staff members was qualified auto electricians (7%).

What you need to know

Just over half of Members reported having lost an apprentice before they completed their trade qualification. Collision workshops were the worst affected (71%) and larger businesses were more likely to have been impacted. Poor performance or not being suited to the industry were the main reasons apprenticeships were terminated.

In Australia, the number of young people completing automotive apprenticeships has actually increased.

According to data from Australia’s National Centre for Vocational Education Research, between December 2018 and December 2022, the number of people completing their automotive apprenticeships was up 58.6%.

There were 3,900 completions in the quarter ending December 2022.