Taking on an apprentice can be a great way of building a loyal, skilled workforce, but employers can still hold misconceptions that stop them from realising the potential.

Here, we give you the most frequent misbeliefs — and why they're wrong.

“It’s hard to find a good apprentice.”

There are many services dedicated to filtering apprenticeship hopefuls so that you can find the best person for the job. With access to over 15,000 screened job seekers, Apprenticeship Support Australia offers recruitment support for potential employers. It also provides free advertising of job roles on both the Skillsroad Jobs board and the ASA Facebook page, which can be targeted at particular locations and cohorts if required. If you want further support, a short-listing service is available, ensuring all you have to do is interview and select your next employee.

“It’s too expensive: I have to pay for them to go to off-the-job training and they aren’t very productive.”

Most trainees and apprentices can be paid an apprentice or trainee wage, which takes into account the lower productivity levels someone training to do a role will be expected to deliver. Employers can also access financial incentives through both the Federal and State Government to help offset some of the costs. In Western Australia, employers also receive a payroll tax exemption for their apprentices, giving them some tax relief while they train. Apprenticeship Support Australia can provide advice and information on all the incentives that may be available to you.

“There is no support available to help my business to make this successful.” 

Apprenticeship Support Australia offer a range of support to help employers throughout and apprenticeship or traineeship. ASA provides tools such as the Recruit Ready Diagnostic to ensure your business is prepared to take on apprentices and trainees. They also do regular check-ins with both you and your apprentice to see how things are progressing. 

If any issues arise, ASA has a full team of mentors that can help, accessible via a dedicated hotline. 

“I don’t have enough work in my pipeline for the entire period of the apprenticeship.” 

This is where it’s crucial to explore the benefits of Group Training Organisations. They employee the apprentice or trainee and host them for you — removing the burdens of paying wages, insurances and covering liabilities. They will also move them to another employer when your project has finished and you no longer have the capacity for an apprentice.