With Central Queensland having been selected as the home of the LNG industry, the city of Gladstone is now facing a severe skills shortage.
“In the six months to June 2009, as a direct result of the global financial crisis and changes to the electrical training package, only 49 electrical apprentices had commenced. This will obviously have serious consequences in the next three to four years,” commented Gladstone Area Group Apprentices Ltd (GAGAL) general manager Kerry Whitaker.
Whitaker believes that the new industries locating to Gladstone will need between 400 and 600 qualified electrical tradespeople, with about 200 of those being dual-trade electrical instrumentation tradespeople.
According to the general manager, there is a desperate need for more apprentices. The situation worsened last year when the dual electrical/instrumentation training package was axed. The same is expected to happen again this year due to lack of interest.
