Headquartered in greater Brisbane, Stoddart has over 400 employees, including 25 apprentices. Most of the company’s apprentices work in metal fabrication, mainly specialising in sheetmetal work.
Stoddart does not have a great deal of difficulty hiring apprentices because of strong relationships with local schools. The company works with the local school industry liaison officers to promote opportunities in the company, and offers 90 work experience slots per year. These activities give Stoddart a strong pool of potential apprentices to choose from each year.
Apart from offering apprenticeships to school leavers, Stoddart has also developed careers progression opportunities for existing production staff. It is quite common for apprentices to have previously worked as production staff in the company. There are currently four adult apprentices. More generally, offering career pathway options for production staff is designed to improve the company’s current turnover rate.
The financial incentives play an important role in Stoddart’s apprenticeship program. The incentives help offset the productivity loss that results from having so many apprentices. Adult apprentices, especially, are relatively expensive. If they come from within the company, they are paid the same wage they previously received, but their productivity dives when they start learning a new skilled trade.
Stoddart employs a lot of ‘semi-skilled’ people in production areas manufacturing sheetmetal products such as shed brackets and fixtures. The apprentices are rotated through each area to gain experience in all aspects of the company’s manufacturing operations. The incentives assist here because, in effect, the rotation scheme means the apprentices are shadowing others and are really all super-numerary. The managers in each area dedicate staff to train the apprentices, which is offset by the incentives. If the incentives were to finish, this would have an impact on each section production manager’s financial targets.
Apprenticeships and traineeships underpin the pipeline of skills needed to deliver some of the biggest priorities facing our nation. In an environment of widespread skills and workforce shortages, a strong apprenticeship and traineeship system is more important than ever.
