ISUZU WELCOMES JOBS SUMMIT ANNOUNCEMENT OF MORE TAFE PLACES


Isuzu Australia National Service Manager Brett Stewart
Earlier this year, Australia’s National Skills Commission said its latest assessment of skill shortages found that 42 per cent of technician and trade occupations are in shortage, compared to 19 per cent of all occupations in shortage. Isuzu has several programs to attract, upskill and retain staff, including apprentices. According to the latest research by National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), one third of all first-year apprentices and trainees do not complete their training. In its Completion and Attrition Rates for Apprentices and Trainees 2021 report, released on August 11, the NCVER said that less than half of the apprenticeships begun in Australia in 2017 were completed. Two innovative Melbourne-based Isuzu truck dealerships teamed up to do their bit to combat that startling rate of apprenticeship dropouts. A group of 12 apprentices are now more than halfway through their first year at the Westar and Patterson Cheney Apprentice Academy. Under the Academy program, apprentices partake in a range of paid work and training and attend TAFE together every two months. They can become either qualified heavy commercial vehicle technician or an auto electrician, with training in all areas of the service and pre-delivery areas.
Patterson Cheney Trucks Dandenong apprentices Thomas Moorman, Kristen DaSilva and Madeleine Sutton
The apprentices also can obtain a forklift licence, first aid qualifications, a truck licence, Certificate II Automotive Air Conditioning and Arctic A/C refrigerant handling licence. Another exciting Isuzu program is the Isuzu National Technical Skills Competition, which pits technicians and apprentices against each other in a friendly battle of skills. The two winners of this year’s national competition will compete against technicians from 40 different countries in the international event later this year, the I-1Grand Prix (I1GP). Eight apprentices and eight Isuzu technicians travelled to Isuzu’s head office in Melbourne in August for the national competition, which this year took the form of a one-hour written exam and a one-hour on-vehicle exercise.


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