But she said the nation still faced a critical shortage of skilled labour.
New data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research shows the number of apprenticeship commencements rose by 26% in the year to June 30, 2004. Over the two years to June 30, 2004, the increase was 42%.
While this showed efforts to encourage younger people to start apprenticeships were working, more was needed to address crippling current labour
shortages, Ridout said.
A recent AIG survey found there were up to 21,000 skilled vacancies in the manufacturing sector alone.
“To fill these vacancies would require a five-fold increase in the number of new people employed in manufacturing over the next 12 months compared with the previous 12 months,” she said.
“So while the latest apprenticeship figures are most encouraging, more effort is clearly needed to address this ongoing problem.”
