Plumbing Connection Summer 2016

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ECTION SUMMER 2016
We decided to do a small survey to get a feel of where
plumbing sits in the lives of students about to make some
serious decisions about their future.
We selected the nearest college to our office, in a
mortgage belt area of Melbourne.
And while this ‘one class’ survey doesn’t pretend to
be a fully representative sample, it did highlight some
fundamental short comings of the industry.
We surveyed 22 year 10 students from Mazenod College, a
Catholic boys school of 1500 students based in Melbourne’s
south east. Although these students had been through a
comprehensive and compulsory Year 8 class of wood/metal
work and other hand skill introductions, not a single student
surveyed was aware of the career pathways plumbing can
lead to.
Yes, most group schemes and TAFE’s can get applicants
but the question that needs to be asked is this: ‘Is the
industry attracting and selecting from the best available
pool of talent?’
Some businesses are feeling the strain of not having
apprentices to hire, making it difficult to grow their
business, accept bigger projects and meet demand.
NSW-based Network Plumbing Pty Ltd head of
apprentices, Colin Dunn, says usually the business takes on
around seven apprentices a year but in recent years that has
changed.
“We used to have heaps of young people coming in looking
for apprenticeships, but this year and last, we’ve had none,”
he said.
“This is a great company with a good culture, excellent
premises, work vehicles supplied - one of the best set-ups
in Sydney, they should be kicking down the door. We’ve
advertised widely for virtually no response.”
Colin says other medium-sized plumbing contractors in
the Northern Beaches area of Sydney are also experiencing
the same problem. He believes part of the issue is
geographical, observing that less affluent areas such as
the Western suburbs are still experiencing a steady stream
of apprentices coming though. The gentrified Northern
Beaches is quite a hike across town from the West or South
West in Sydney’s chaotic traffic. But is that the only reason
for a failing thirst for work?
The other point Colin questions is why from the thousands
of kids coming through the Northern Beaches schools there
is so little interest in a plumbing career.
Many schools, parents and youth tend to see
university acceptance as their metric for student success
and following into a trade career can be seen as a failure
to reach that (parental) goal. At Mazenod College over
80% of surveyed students aimed to go to university.
Only two students planned to do a TAFE course yet many
students would find their niche in plumbing and other trade
careers.
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