A carpenter has claimed the trade industry is ‘dying out’ as more businesses turn to subcontractors because they’re less of a hassle and more cost-effective.
Josh Alcorn, the owner of a luxury cabin-building business in Wollongong, shared a video last week explaining why ‘apprentices are too expensive to hire’.
‘People love to talk about the trade shortage, but no one’s talking about why,’ he said.
‘From my experience, there’s two big reasons: apprentices are too expensive to hire and young people have other ways of making money these days.’
As the owner of a business, Mr Alcorn said there were several disadvantages to hiring apprentice tradies.
‘I’ve crunched the numbers and when you factor in annual leave, TAFE days, sick leave, public holidays, RDOs, rain days – a first-year apprentice ends up costing you the same as what it would to have a subby (subcontractor) for $50 an hour,’ he said.
‘That doesn’t include overheads, insurance, payroll, all that other s***.
‘So as a boss, you’ve got two options. You can either take on an apprentice who doesn’t know anything or a subby who’s got a car, tools and can work unsupervised.
Josh Alcorn (pictured), the owner of a luxury cabin building business in Wollongong, claimed less apprentices are being hired because they’re ‘too expensive’
‘From a pure financial perspective, what would you do?’
With no financial incentive for business owners to hire apprentices, the size of the next generation of tradies could be drastically smaller.
‘Obviously, I did my time as an apprentice and I believe in training the next generation, but I can see why people aren’t hiring apprentices like they used to,’ Mr Alcorn said.
‘Some people will tell you it’s because they don’t make them like they used to.
‘Maybe they’re right, but I’m sure there’s some young guns out there who won’t get a shot because it just costs too much to hire them.
‘Until that changes, we’ll continue to hear them talk about how the trades are dying.’
Data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research showed that while the number of apprentices in Australia was higher than pre-pandemic levels, the figure had steadily declined since the last boom in early 2022.
The Apprentices and Trainees 2024: December quarter report stated: ‘Trade numbers decreased by 2.9 per cent compared with December 2023, while non-trade numbers fell more significantly by 19.1 per cent.’
Australia has seen a slow decline in apprentices since the last boom of young tradies in early 2022
During campaigning for the federal election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledged an almost $627million boost for the construction industry.
The funding was set to cover residential and clean energy sectors and cover about 62,690 apprentices.
Albanese’s proposed scheme promised to pay apprentices $10,000 in five instalments over the duration of their apprenticeship, in addition to their usual pay.
He also promised to raise allowances for apprentices living away from home.
‘Right now, a first-year carpentry apprentice earns about two-thirds of the minimum wage,’ Albanese said in January.
‘Many apprentices have said they could earn more stacking shelves at the supermarket.’
However, the Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia warned the promise was not enough as it still left other trade sectors in the dark.
‘Supporting apprentices in the construction and energy sectors is important, but this measure fails to address the needs of the small businesses in other parts of the economy,’ council chief executive Troy Williams said.
‘It also lets down employers looking to take on an apprentice.
‘Without meaningful support for employers, the pipeline of skilled workers will continue to remain under threat.’
The move was part of Albanese’s larger promise to build more homes to address critical housing shortages.
