The industry FuturePrint program is well ahead of schedule in its quest to connect 250 printers with apprentices in a trial of a new competency-based model.
PIAA general manager of innovation, training and employment Joan Grace, who heads up the project, is confident FuturePrint will exceed its 250 printer target by July next year.
“These are very promising numbers for an industry that desperately needs skilled people,” she says. “The printing industry is too old and needs new blood, and this is a way to get started on finding them. We have to just do it, we need skilled people.”
The joint initiative between the PIAA and Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) aims to inject new blood into an industry of ageing workers and low apprenticeship uptake by ‘giving businesses practical tools and support as they plan and equip for the future, and to find the right people with the right skills to help them get there’.
FuturePrint’s newly-launched website features a jobs board businesses can use to list vacancies and recruit suitable applicants, and an apprenticeship matching service to help prospective trainees match their skills to opportunities in the industry.
So far 60 firms have signed up and pledged to employ or upskill 200 workers, with a goal of 120 by mid-2014, 19 of which have already started work, with more starting each day, from a pool of more than 500 expressions of interests.
[Related: PIAA seeks printers for business development]
Grace says apprenticeship numbers are so low because people do not understand the industry.
“Printing is used by every company every day and we forget to say so. The industry has to get more confidence,” she says.
FuturePrint apprentices work on a competency-based model used in other industries but new to printing where the trainee is graded on their competency instead of the current time-based progression model.
Apprentices may advance faster or slower than the standard model depending on how well they do and the program can be tailored to suit the employer’s needs “we will liaise very closely with them so as to ensure that their views and assessment are part of their apprentice’s progression”, FuturePrint’s website says.
Grace says: “With this approach it will be clear the worker has the necessary skills and if they qualify faster they can productive earlier.”
“We will be there to help and support the apprentice and the company, and give employers a seat at the table developing a new model for apprenticeships,” she says.
AMWU print division general secretary Lorraine Cassin says apprenticeships are at an all-time low and members are calling for a new model.
“Members are very happy and are giving us good feedback. We are really starting to be able to test what will be the best model for years to come and hopefully that will increase applications,” she says.
“This kind of collaborative model between us, employers and the industry is ideal going forward and will improve our training strategies.
“People need to see print as an industry with a future so this is a necessary step.”
Grace called on printing firms to get involved so they can reap the benefits of a new generation of workers.
“Working with industry, unions, governments and RTOs is a long and complex process, but the really important work starts when all that is in place – and that’s delivering real benefits to the business down the road, or the employee who needs to upskill or reskill, or the young person who sees that they can have a rewarding career in our industry using new technologies,” she says.
“The structure is in place, the website is operational, the training is already happening – now we just want more businesses to benefit. There’s no deadline and no obligation, so I’d encourage anyone thinking about their business future to contact us and start the conversation.”
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