THE Federal Government has extended training loans, like those it has traditionally provided for university students, to the trades sector.

Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said Trade Support Loans would start from July 1, in a similar format to the HECS-HELP tertiary student loans. 

Mr Macfarlane said it was as part of the government’s “comprehensive plan to create a more responsive skills and training system that cuts red tape and trains apprentices that are job-ready”.

The Federal Government has set aside $1.9 billion in Trade Support Loans.

“Australia’s productivity and competitiveness depend on a highly trained workforce,” Mr Macfarlane said. “Trade Support Loans will help more apprentices complete their training and get the skills they need to fill the jobs that businesses want.

“Many young apprentices do it tough in the early years and these loans, paid monthly, will ease the financial burden and help increase training completion rates,” he said.

“Trade Support Loans are interest free. They are indexed annually with CPI, but aren’t subject to a commercial rate of interest as a bank loan would be. This is the policy we took to the election, and this is the policy we are implementing.

“Our Trade Support Loans are a responsible investment in the nation’s future tradespeople,” Mr Macfarlane said.

The Trade Support Loans programme offers loans of up to $20,000 which are repayable once apprentices are earning a sustainable income of around $50,000.  Apprentices will receive a 20 percent reduction in the amount of the loan once they complete their training.

The programme targets occupations on the National Skills Needs List such as plumbers, diesel mechanics, electricians and fitters, as well as well priority areas in horticulture and agriculture with more than 100 qualifications eligible.

www.industry.gov.au

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ENGINEERING group Bechtel Australia has received high praise from industry support body Construction Skills Queensland (CSQ), for the innovative training program Bechtel implemented during the construction phase of the Curtis Island LNG plant project.

Bechtel Australia won the Employer of the Year Award at the 2013 Queensland Training Awards.

Bechtel invested more than $2.3 million in training on the liquefied natural gas (LNG) project between July 2011 and February 2013, providing opportunities for more than 350 workers to participate in accredited training each month.

CSQ CEO Brett Schimming said Bechtel will also have one of the largest intakes of apprentices in Australian history through its adult apprenticeship program. 

Mr Schimming said a construction employer winning the award illustrated the strong training culture that existed across the state in the building and construction industry.

“Bechtel are a great example of construction employers in Queensland committed to maximising the training outcomes of major projects for the wider community,” Mr Schimming said.

“In addition to offering on the job training to the apprentices, the company has helped a further 350 workers each month to develop new skills and progress their careers,” he said.

“We congratulate the Bechtel team on their hard work and dedication to training which will help to ensure a lasting legacy of skills for the Gladstone construction industry.”

During the project, CSQ has provided funding towards two ‘apprentice coordinators’ dedicated to apprentice and trainee management and mentoring.

“The coordinators played a key role in ensuring Bechtel has a framework in place to support the needs of their apprentices,” Mr Schimming said.

At an early stage, Bechtel identified challenges in recruiting the large number of steel fixers required by the project. With funding support from CSQ, the company developed a purpose built program to train existing workers on the project in steel fixing.

Mr Schimming said industry upskilling was a key focus for CSQ.

“Resource related infrastructure projects continue to face significant skills challenges that can only be met by harnessing the capacity of our existing workers,” he said.

“While many of the skills from residential and commercial construction are transferable, some training may be necessary to make the transition into the engineering construction sector of the industry.

“With funding support of civil construction training programs and industry short courses, we are providing opportunities for workers to upskill and gain the right skills mix to take advantage of work prospects on major projects.

“Across Queensland we are working to ensure we have a construction workforce capable of meeting the skills demands of the future,” Mr Schimming said.

CSQ recently outlined a $52.5 million investment in skills development over the next 12 months for the state’s building and construction industry.

CSQ has published details of its Annual Training Plan investment on its website.

www.csq.org.au

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AN INNOVATIVE ‘hot leasing’ facility for registered training organisations (RTOs) has been launched at Salisbury in Brisbane’s south, to help drive new training programs for the trades. 

Education, Training and Employment Minister John-Paul Langbroek officially opened the facility on last month, urging RTOs to take advantage of a golden opportunity to develop and run modern training courses without huge capital outlay. The fully equipped facilities can be leased is cost-effective time packages – ranging from hourly to monthly.

The Construction Training Centre developed the concept of what it calls Hot Leasing based on the success and innovation of collaborative consumption, also called the share economy. 

The rental section of the share economy is big business, an industry worth an estimated $26 billion worldwide, said Construction Training Centre CEO Phil Diver.

“The growth and success of the share economy motivated us to see how we could implement it within our own industry,” Mr Diver said.

“Our goal with Hot Leasing is to use the share economy concept to assist RTOs in reducing costs, and also reducing our environmental impact.

“The Hot Leasing facility is a very flexible concept. RTOs are able to book daily, weekly, monthly or even by the hour.

“This flexibility means numerous clients can share the facility, equipment is not left idle, and clients are not paying for space when it is not being used.”

The Construction Training Centre worked alongside industry leaders that will be using the facility to ensure it has the highest industry standards and the latest equipment. The commitment to these standards is already paying off, Mr Diver said, with some parts of the facility complete and clients already enjoying the benefits.

AlertForce Pty Ltd CEO Brendan Torazzi, said, “We have found the crew at CTC Hot Leasing easy to work with. The centre provides world-class simulated work environments for our asbestos removal training.”

Hot Leasing offers a broad range of short term hire access to fully equipped facilities, for industrial safety training and High Risk Work Licence (HRWL) training, assessment and Verification of Competency.

The completed facility will provide state-of-the-art training equipment for asbestos removal, forklift operation, scaffolding, rigging, dogging, swing stage, lifting (cranes), elevated work platform, and scissor lifts.

www.hotleasing.com.au

www.ctc.qld.edu.au

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POSTED May 19, 2014.

MODERN video conferencing techniques are coming into their own when casting the net for talent. 

Video conferences are broadening horizons for employers and employees in ways that have not been possible before, judging by the experience of People Intelligence managing director Lindsey Morgan.

Her business has always concentrated on placing executives that People Intelligence pre-qualified through a rigorous face-to-face interview process. 

“The value presented by in-person meetings cannot be replaced, however, we have found a great alternative in a product called GoToMeeting, which allows us to see and interact with our candidates without the need to travel,” Ms Morgan said.

“We can find, in some cases, with the focus only on the head and shoulders, the visual aspect of that candidate is magnified as there are fewer distractions than if they were in the room with you. This allows us to pick up all the visual clues to someone’s personality that we need in order to make a rounded decision about them.”

While it works for the recruiter, Ms Morgan said the experience of a video interview worked in favour of the interviewee as well.

“In addition to the flexibility that video conferencing provides our agents with, we’re thrilled by the feedback from our candidates that use it with us,” she said.

“They enjoy the freedom it gives them to fit in the recruitment process around their own lives, creating a more relaxed and accessible process for all.”

This broadened horizons for recruitment, People Intelligence discovered.

“Globalisation is now a fact of business, especially when it comes to recruiting talent,” Ms Morgan said. “In a competitive recruitment environment, organisations need to be ensuring they’re reaching the right candidates whilst maintaining a level of cost effectiveness and efficiency in the process.

“People Intelligence is a recruitment consultancy that operates throughout Australia, mainly along the Eastern Sea Board.  We have always placed candidates that we have had the chance to meet face-to-face and have always felt that having a candidate ‘on the ground’ is preferable.

“In today’s working environment however, we have come to accept that this is not always possible.”

With new video conferencing technologies becoming increasingly affordable and utilised by businesses of all sizes – and switched-on individuals – Ms Morgan said it was a boon to the recruitment process.

“When looking to place candidates in a role, we have found the process of telephone interviewing to be extremely two-dimensional and have also struggled when face-to-face contact was not possible,” she said.

“More and more organisations are turning to technology, specifically video conferencing, to engage with and interview prospective candidates.

“This method of recruitment strikes a healthy balance between accessing remote workforces and improving productivity without losing the important face-to-face interaction and chemistry, which is so important when it comes to selecting suitable employees.”

www.peopleintelligence.com.au

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POSTED MAY 14, 2014