A recent opinion article by Tim Duggan in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper published on June 18, 2026 titled “Australia is crying out for more tradies. Why aren’t young people answering?” highlights how some outdated views that parents have, may influence the career choices their children make.
The decline in trade apprenticeships in Australia, despite high industry demand, is driven by a combination of economic, cultural, and structural factors:
1. Cultural Stigma and Perception
- Status Hierarchy: There is a prevailing societal view that white-collar university roles are superior, while trades are often dismissed as a “second-tier” or “back-up plan.” The reality is that students will graduate with a financial debt, and forego potential earnings, to complete a degree with no “real” work experience, compared to those that choose to complete an apprenticeship.
- Lack of Framing: The narrative is shifting to present apprenticeships as a way to “future-proof” a career, particularly against the rise of AI and robotics that currently poses less of a threat to trade jobs than office jobs.
2. Economic Disincentives
- Low Pay and Hard Work: Apprenticeships are characterised by lower wages during training and physical work, which deters many young people. However, there are significant government financial incentives for both an apprentice and their employer to offset such financial concerns. Physical workloads have also been adjusted and managed better with the support of modern occupational well-being policies and laws.
- Cost of Training: It is time-consuming and expensive for employers to train new workers. While government initiatives like the Key Apprenticeship Program exist to offset costs, recent budget adjustments may reduce this financial safety net. Employers will always incur costs to train new workers irrespective of their qualifications. It is a part of the cost of doing business, however, employers have the opportunity to train apprentices on the job and reap immediate benefits from the trainning while spreading out the cost of training over several years of the apprenticeship.
3. Lack of Demand from Youth
- Preference Shift: Unlike in the US (where apprenticeships are rising due to a bleak graduate market) or China (where students are turning to vocational training to bypass unemployment), young Australians are not “driving the demand.” This stems from the lack of awareness and exposure to the industries that have the demand for trades and offer trade careers.
- Supply vs. Demand Mismatch: Even though industries like construction, energy, and manufacturing are “crying out” for workers, the supply of willing apprentices is dropping (down 7.3% for trade and 20.2% for non-trade apprenticeships in the year to June 2025). This mismatch is driven by the high cost of living, cuts to some government incentives, and economic uncertainty for businesses.
4. Comparison to Successful Models
- The article notes that countries like Germany succeed because their Ausbildung system (combining workplace training with theory) is highly respected and normalised, with over 60% of young people starting their careers this way. Australia lacks this established cultural respect for vocational pathways and will need to innovative new pathways to fast track the training of critical trades.
As demand for trades continues to grow across all industry sectors, starting wages and entry opportunities will continue to increase. Trades will not be replaced anytime soon by the transformational changes that AI and robotics will bring to all industries.