TOO FEW APPRENTICES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22724, 10 May 1937, Page 8

TOO FEW APPRENTICES

Suggestions by employers and others which might lead to an increase in the number of apprentices and ensure a more adequate supply of skilled labour in the future are made in an article published this morning. The number of apprentices in New Zealand has declined from 10,227 in 1928 to 3552 last year, and, although the registration of new contracts has latterly shown a tendency to increase, the position remains unsatisfactory. The Government is aware of the position, and last session empowered the Minister of Labour to approve contracts applying to youths of 18 and over. This provision was designed to allow youths to learn a trade who missed their chance in the depression years, but there is as yet no evidence to ■show its effectiveness. In any case something more comprehensive is clearly required if New Zealand trades and industries are not to be starved of the skill in demand—while thousands rust in idleness—or if tradesmen are not to be imported. The Government has promised a general overhaul of the Apprentices Act, and should treat the subject as one of urgency, because it must be several years before any reforms can begin to produce the desired results. A large part of the trouble to-day is the reluctance of employers to enter into the long-term commitment's involved in apprenticeship contracts. That reluctance has not been lessened by the Arbitration Court's recent judgment on the application of new legislation to the wages and conditions of apprentices. The question is therefore raised whether the contract period could not be shortened in trades where mass - production methods have reduced the call on individual skill. An employer might be willing to bind himself for three years but not for six. Such a proposition should, of course, be approached with a good deal of caution, because there is and probably always will bo a demand for the complete tradesman. The solution may be found in giving greater elasticity in framing the period and requirements under apprenticeship contracts.