Dave Strong: Morrinsville Plumbing & Gas Services managing director on the calls to promote apprenticeships to young Kiwis

There's belief better pathways to industry and trades training are needed.

A report from the New Zealand Initiative has found just six percent of 16-to-19 year-olds participate in workplace learning, while 11 percent are unemployed.

It states schools are geared toward university education, even though only about a third enrol in degrees.

Morrinsville Plumbing & Gas Services managing director Dave Strong says the sector is still struggling with a perception problem.

"We don't seem to be recognised as a career...we're actually qualified professionals now, but no-one seems to want to recognise it as an alternative." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right now, there are calls for an overhaul of the
apprenticeship system. A new report from the New Zealand Initiative
you might have heard it on Mike Costking this morning,
found that eleven percent of sixteen to nineteen year olds
are unemployed, but just six percent participate in workplace training.
In other words, you've got a whole bunch of people
who are doing nothing and not many who are doing

(00:20):
something useful. The initiative says the era is in the
school's promoting universities over other avenues, even though only a
third end up at university. Dave Strong is the managing
director at Morinsville Plumbing and Gases. With Me now, Kida, Dave,
how A, you're on very good. Yeah, good to have
you on the show. Thanks, thanks having with me? Is think,

(00:40):
what's the problem here? Are we not promoting this in
the right way? Are young people not interested in apprenticeships?
What's going wrong.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
All of that? We don't seem to be recognized as
a career, you know, we go back to the old
where well you're you're a tradee whereas we're actually qualified
professionals now, but no one seems to want to recognize

(01:11):
that as an alternative to the recognition we get if
we have you know, half of our students go to
university against the half of them went on became plumbers, builders,
electricians and in the trades. So for some reason, schools
gain accolades for people going on to the so called

(01:32):
higher echelon of learning, which is the universities, than the
recognization that as a trades person we actually have to
sit unit standards and pass exams to become qualified in
what we do.

Speaker 1 (01:45):
How much work class time is there? And what do
you get paid if you're doing an apprenticeship these days?

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Well, most apprentices well depending on who employs them, but
most apprentices are starting on between nineteen and twenty one
dollars an hour in the in the pump industry. That's
all I can probably talk for at this stage. And
then you know, by the time they've done their four
to five years of on the job and wind tech

(02:16):
or polytech training, they will probably come out on the
maybe the thirty five to forty dollars range.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
And what is the what is the you know, with
the number of people who are going to university doing
their degrees and then end up working doing nothing to
do with the degree. What do you think needs to
change to encourage those people to come and do a trade.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
I suppose it's easy for students to go to university
for the fact that they can go and get a
loan and go along and it's advertised it's trade as
the optimum thing to do in your life is to
get a degree. What people seem to forget is that

(03:07):
we actually have degrees. I have a degree as a
plumber and grain layer. You know, my staff for plumbers, guesses,
drain layers, we do know associated trade electrical so were
we have qualifications, but it doesn't seem to have the
recognition of a bachelor or a master's degree.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
Yeah. Interesting, Dave, thank you very much for that. Dave
Strong as the managing director at Mourrinsville Plumbing and Gas Services,
making me a good point. Eleven minutes after six when
I left school, my dad said go and get a trade.
He was not in favor of me going to university,
and I was a little geek, and I was like,
I'm going to go study politics. And thankfully when I

(03:51):
got to UNI, I studied politics and realized that most
people in the class were wacko, and so added a
commerce degree. On just for Good meeting, which I think
is probably a good thing. If you are going to
go to university, don't just go and do an arts degree,
for God's sakes. But I do look at that. I
mean people, a lot of my friends when in God
at trades. They are way better off financially than people

(04:12):
who go to university. They are earning from the beginning.
They say for a house, sooner, they get the house sooner.
Once they've got the house, they can actually fix it.
You know, I can't change a car tire. For more
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