Older workers in apprenticeships and traineeships

This report examines apprenticeships and traineeships with particular reference to the age and sex of apprentices and trainees.

• The ‘typical’ older male (45 years and over) apprentice or trainee is undertaking a certificate III qualification, is full-time, and is a transport driver, or intermediate production and transport worker. This is the same for men aged between 25 and 44, but is quite different for younger men, who typically are undertaking an apprenticeship in a traditional trade.

• The ‘typical’ older female apprentice or trainee is undertaking a certificate III, is full-time or part-time, and is an intermediate service or clerical worker, or cleaner. This is similar to other female age groups, with the exception of young women undertaking a traditional apprenticeship in hairdressing.

• The number of apprentices and trainees has increased substantially since the early 1980s, with the majority of growth taking place in ‘non-traditional’ occupations. The largest percentage increase was for males over the age of 45 years, followed by women aged 45 years and over. The group with the slowest growth is that of young males, but even here the growth was over 50%.

This report examines the growth in apprenticeships and traineeships between 1997 and 2003, with a particular focus on older workers. In order to make sense of the data, we split apprentices and trainees into six demographic groups: males aged less than 25; those aged 25 to 44; and those 45 years and over. Females were categorised according to the same age groupings. The gender split is important because of the segmented nature of the labour market. The age split captures aspects of labour market segmentation and also some life cycle aspects. The other element of our approach was to define apprenticeships and traineeships in terms of the occupation (two-digit Australian Standard of Occupations [ASCO]), the qualification level and whether the apprenticeship/traineeship was full-time or part-time.

The analysis indicates a relatively complicated story. The ‘typical’ apprentice or trainee differs according to gender and age. In 2003, the typical young male apprentice or trainee aged under 25 had commenced a full-time construction apprenticeship at certificate level III; the male between 25 and 44 years had commenced an apprenticeship/traineeship in other intermediate production and transport occupations, which was full-time and at certificate III level; and a male over 45 years had commenced an apprenticeship/traineeship as a road and rail transport driver, again at certificate III level and full-time. The typical young woman aged under 25 had commenced a full-time apprenticeship/traineeship at certificate III level as an intermediate clerical worker and a typical woman between 25 years and 45 years or 45 years and over had commenced a part-time apprenticeship/traineeship at certificate III level as an intermediate service worker

It is interesting to note that the occupational preferences of the various age groups are strongly related to their full-time or part-time status. Young males are almost all full-time and this is associated with their choice of occupation. Older males also tend to be full-time and this is reflected in both their choice of occupation and their working pattern within the occupation. As expected, the story is quite different for women. They both choose occupations in which part-time work is more common, and more will work part-time within those occupations. The tendency to work part-time is particularly pronounced for older women.

However, it is a mistake to believe that the distribution of apprenticeships and traineeships remains unchanged from earlier patterns. Apart from the obvious expansion of occupations, we have seen growth in part-time apprenticeships and traineeships and some change in the qualification level. Certificate III remains the dominant level, but the lower-level qualifications have become less important, while higher-level qualifications have grown substantially in relative terms, although the numbers are still modest. Part-time apprenticeships and traineeships have become much more common, with commencements increasing from 7000 to around 80 000.

There have been very high growth rates in apprenticeships and traineeships among the older groups, both male and female. We went to some trouble to understand the driving force behind this change by looking at the various proportions of the specified groups within particular apprenticeships and traineeships, as well as focusing on the structural change in types of apprenticeships and traineeships (for example , the different growth in apprenticeships and traineeships across occupations). We found that, within particular apprenticeships and traineeships, changes favoured older males and young females, whereas the structural changes in types of apprenticeships and traineeships available favoured older groups, both male and female.

It goes without saying that the main picture to emerge is one of change. The apprenticeship/traineeship scene today is very different from that of only seven years ago. The range of occupations has widened, part-time apprenticeships and traineeships are now common, and apprenticeships and traineeships are no longer the preserve of the young male. The main point of stability is that certificate III is the dominant qualification level. Apprenticeships and traineeships have become more important for all age groups and for both sexes.