The overall expenditure on training by businesses will reduce by 4.1 per cent in 2010, with four out of five businesses expected to slash their training budgets for existing staff by a massive 20 per cent, Sarah Falson writes.
A survey of 500 chief executive officers (CEOs) working in Australia has high lighted the strong pressure on business owners to find money to fund training for employees. The Australian Industry Group/Deloitte CEO survey, Skilling Business in Tough Times, found that employers are under pressure to up-skill and retain their staff — including appren tices — during the economic downturn.
In fact, as a consequence of quieter trading in 2008 and 2009, the overall expenditure on training by businesses will reduce by 4.1 per cent in 2010, with four out of five businesses expected to slash their training budgets for existing staff by a massive 20 per cent.
The number of apprentices employed during this period is also expected to be seriously affected, with 36.8 per cent of companies employing apprentices reporting that they could reduce their apprentice numbers by 5.9 per cent during the rest of 2009 and into next year; the uptake of new apprentices will fall by 10.6 per cent.
Though employment is not expected to hit the lows of past economic down turns, employment is anticipated to fall 3 per cent in manufacturing, 2.5 per cent in construction and 4 per cent in services. All up, Australian companies are planning to reduce employment by 3.8 per cent in 2009—10.
In industries that rely on skilled workers, including the processing and automation sectors, this news is especially troubling. According to Endress+Hauser Australia managing director, John Immelman, instrumentation technicians will be hit the hardest.
Despite the fact that the downturn in some process industries, like mining and chemical, has forced technicians/electri cians into the job market, the shortage of instrumentation technicians remains at a critical level,” he told PACE.
“Instrumentation as a career is not well-marketed, and is not perceived as a technical profession of choice. For this reason, there are very few TAFEs and universities providing instrumentation as a full course.”
According to Immelman, it is impera tive for companies working in the processing and instrumentation sector to continue to support apprentices — espe cially since the technical workforce is crucial to the future of these industries.
Endress+Hauser — which is a global supplier of industrial measurement and automation equipment, including flow, level, pressure, and temperature sensors — will actually be attempting to increase the number of apprentices it employs in 2010.
“As a consequence [of instrumentation careers not being well-marketed] there are very few ‘instros’ coming through the education system, and yet without them, process plants cannot operate efficiently or sustainably,” Immelman said.
According to Immelman, companies that employ and support apprentices can reap the benefits of retaining more skilled and competent workers in the long-run.
“Endress+Hauser Australia has developed a culture of supporting apprenticeships in our industry in an attempt, in a small way, to alleviate this predicament,” he said.
“In 2010 we will not decrease, and probably increase, our apprenticeship program. Of course the strategy is not totally altruistic: we hope that the qualified apprentices stay will with our company and develop further. Our experience is that during the apprenticeship, the individual is exposed to our full basket of products and solutions, and grows into the culture of our company – the ideal future employee.”