Pack up the books and get on the tools

BEAU ROBINSON

Research has come out indicating 60% of students are studying for careers that won’t exist in the future.

With students facing increasingly large HECS debts for occupations that could possibly no longer exist, there is an increasing likelihood that this will ensure a move back towards school leavers looking to get a trade.

Jock Kent who recently started his own building company, Taranaway Building, and has employed 2 apprentices within the last 24 months believes so “Carpentry is probably the oldest trade in the world and I think she’ll be a while before houses are building themselves, in saying that it’s definitely easier than 10 years ago”.

Many of the trades that are on offer to school leavers have been around for decades, even centuries, and it would appear that they are safe from being outsourced due to them requiring human contact, with many having changed very little over the last 20 or 30 years.

For those taking up a trade, a big incentive is the ability to earn an income whilst getting their necessary training. As opposed to university where a student is required to also get a job to support their living expenses whilst studying “I’ve got a few mates who have been at uni for 4 years and have a $30 000 or more HECS debt and are still struggling to find a job. I can’t understand why more blokes aren’t looking to get on the tools”

Employers in industries such as mechanics, concreters  and tilers are finding it increasingly harder to find suitable school leavers to take up apprenticeships that they can train up, as they have done in the past. This comes about even though there is still very much a demand for the services that these trades offer, putting a further growing workload and demand on those already in the industry.

If the prediction that 44% of jobs will be automated in the next 10 years is to be correct, it might be worth considering for the next generation of school leavers to look at taking up a trade.