Despite the many benefits of traineeships and apprenticeships, low completion rates persist in Australia. At last check, the rate sat at around 58 per cent nationally. This means that more than one in every three people who commence a traineeship or apprenticeship does not complete it.

It’s concerning, because such programs which combine training and education with practical, real-word experience, have long been a core part of Australia’s vocational landscape. Non-completion can have significant impacts both for the individual and for the business that has invested in them. 

Credible group training organisations (GTOs) provide a possible solution. A report by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) highlights how GTOs have been helping reverse the trend. It makes a compelling case for businesses to engage a GTO for their apprentice and trainee needs. 

As a registered GTO and licenced labour hire agency, Acclaimed Workforce provide ongoing support to apprentices, trainees and their host employers. Find out how we can support you. 

Essentially, a GTO functions as the employer who on-hires the apprentice or trainee to a business that needs them. The GTO will help to match the apprentice or trainee to a business that will be a good fit, providing ongoing support and mentorship throughout their study and on-site training. 

This guidance and care is a key feature of GTOs, as it can help ease the transition for a person who may be unaccustomed to, or unaware of, the demands of a professional work-study arrangement (more than 71 per cent of trainees and apprentices engaged by a GTO are under the age of 20). 

The data in the NCVER report is rather complex, complicated by employer size and apprentice demographics, all of which have an impact on the likelihood of apprentices completing. Even so, the conclusions reached by NCVER Managing Director Simon Walker are unequivocal. 

“After accounting for the different demographic profiles of GTO apprentices and trainees and employer size,” writes Walker, “the study shows that GTO completion rates for all apprentices and trainees are substantially higher than for small and medium direct employers.” 

(The comparison with small and medium direct employers is significant because GTOs tend to service businesses of this size rather than larger businesses.) 

Acclaimed Workforce is a recognised GTO, complying with the national standards for group training organisations. We see this as a natural progression of our decades of experience engaging and managing on-hired workforces to meet skills and labour requirements of our clients. 

It also builds upon our considerable success providing training and upskilling to employees, such as our 2019 work experience program for De Bortoli Wines in NSW, or varying program we have been involved in, such as training to address a shortage of forklift drivers in regional South Australia. 

Gaining GTO recognition is another way for us to provide a leg-up to the next generation of workers, while further supporting our clients to fill skills gaps and build capability within their business – especially at a time of low unemployment and labour shortages across many industries. 

If you are a business in need of an apprentice or trainee, or an individual looking for a role as an apprentice or trainee, contact us today, 1300 119 229.