Skills Institute

Wednesday, 12 December 2012 - 2:28pm

With the State Government’s recent announcement of the jobs stimulus package, including the First Home Builders’ Boost and other incentives, employers need to start planning to capitalise on contract opportunities as they arise.

Experience has told us that economic downturn events are cyclical, and in time the industry returns to a more stable, perhaps even buoyant, level. When the work returns, it is important that businesses have the skilled work force available to be able to meet their contracted needs and grow their business.

A first-year apprentice starting in 2013 becomes a highly trained worker by 2016, who would be a vital asset to any business bidding for and securing building contracts. However, if a business waits to put on their apprentice until the work comes, they will need to wait four years until that worker is skilled enough to be able to be an independent member of the team. In that time, contracts could be lost due to a business not having enough trained workers to meet the workload.

Incentives such as the Federal Government’s Kickstart program and the State Government’s Skills Fund provide heavily subsidised training opportunities for qualified businesses. Follow the links to the relevant parts of our website to learn more about the benefits you could be able to receive when training your work force.

There are projects in the wind that could spell a change for the industry. A highly skilled work force puts your business at the forefront for grasping these new opportunities and capitalising on the “up cycle”.