Growth in Whanganui apprentice numbers expected to continue following boost subsidy extension

Whanganui apprenticeship programmes will continue to be supported following an extension to the government's Apprenticeship Boost subsidy. Photo / Bevan Conley.

A Whanganui vocational training provider says he expects to see continued growth in local apprenticeships following an extension to the Government's apprenticeship subsidy.

The Apprenticeship Boost was created in 2020 and pays employers bringing in an apprentice a monthly subsidy over 24 months.

AGC Training director of executives Peter Macdonald said since the subsidy was introduced he has seen a steady rise in businesses taking on an apprentice, especially in the construction sector.

"While the work is there and employers are busy they'll have to take on extra staff. If they can't get a qualified person they are looking at taking on a younger person or even an adult and putting them through an apprenticeship."

Minister of Education Chris Hipkins said the extension would support 38,000 apprentices across the country, as well as 1,600 people in the Mana in Mahi programme and more than 800 people in the Māori Trades and Training Fund.

Hipkins said the $230 million investment would provide support for 24,000 new apprentices as well as continued support for 14,000 established ones whose employers are receiving the subsidy until August this year.

Macdonald said the subsidy extension would help AGC's apprenticeship programmes as it assured companies that they wouldn't lose money bringing in an apprentice to train.

"It gives confidence to the industry and the sector and the people wanting to take on an apprenticeship because it's not going to cost them," he said.

However, the amount paid to employers for first-year apprentices will be cut in half.

Employers will now be paid a subsidy rate of $500 per month for the first year of an apprenticeship, rather than the $1000 per month they were previously receiving.

Second-year subsidy rates will remain the same at $500 per month.

The number of people doing an apprenticeship had increased by 55 per cent since the introduction of the subsidy in 2020, the Government said.

The Building & Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) reported their apprentices had increased in Whanganui from 90 in 2020 to 230 at the moment, a 155 per cent increase.