By Radley de Silva, CEO

On 11 May, an otherwise quiet night at Etihad Stadium, we hosted several hundred young apprentices who had travelled from nearly every corner of Victoria to be recognized for their achievements over the past year. Of our three major, annual awards events, the one for apprentices is the most casual and also, in many ways, the most enjoyable.

It’s a great place to see young people at the start of their careers, figuring out how to present themselves at what is often their first career award event. In a room of over 850 young builders and their families, you get a great feeling for the diversity of men and women who have entered the industry recently, and who represent a huge part of the workforce for Victoria’s future.

This year the leader of the pack, winning two of the major awards (both Metropolitan Apprentice of the Year and State Apprentice of the Year) was Nathan Blair, a carpenter from Romsey. In addition, Nathan also walked away with nearly $4000 in tools, work wear and vouchers to support his work, rewards made possible by our sponsors, to whom we are eternally grateful. Winning the third major award—Regional Apprentice of the Year—was Joseph Brakels, a carpenter from Mansfield.

Female apprentices (a description that already seems dated, given the fast disappearance of old gender roles in the industry) winning awards that night included Ebony Griffin from Officer, Apprentice of the Year for Joinery, and Courtney Keong from Aintree, awarded Apprentice of the Year for Painting and Decorating.

The Hon Tim Pallas MP, Treasurer of Victoria, helped us present the awards that night, and deliver an important message to everyone who was present—there has never been a better time to launch a career in building and construction. The demand is high, the opportunities many and the rewards plentiful.

What sort of demand are we talking about here? Good question. As I mentioned in an earlier article, the rate of growth in Victoria’s population means we estimate our industry will need to deliver 54,000 homes each year for the next decade to meet it. Over the same period, that’s a call for 64,177 new workforce entrants.

So please keep this in mind: when you take on an apprentice, you’re not just helping a young builder get a leg up on their career; you’re helping the communities and the economy of Victoria for years to come, not to mention your business and industry.

Do you have a great apprentice we should know about? Contact our Careers Officer Ingrid Mountford on (03) 9411 4555. Maybe they’ll be the next top apprentice!

This article is reprinted with permission. To see the article as it appears in Bowens Builders Bulletin, click here.