The Government’s cuts to the Apprenticeship Boost programme will leave New Zealand without the workforce it needs to build homes, schools and hospitals.

“As we see more and more skilled workers leaving the country, Penny Simmonds has cut the very tool that would ensure more people are trained to fill the gap,” Labour tertiary education spokesperson Dr Deborah Russell said.

“Apprentices in road construction and maintenance, drinking/wastewater treatment, welding and mechanical engineering are just some of the industries where the Apprenticeship Boost no longer applies.

“New Zealand continues to grapple with a growing infrastructure deficit that has been generations in the making. If the Government was truly serious about tackling it, you would think having a skilled workforce would be critical.

“With the economy stagnating, now is the time to support more businesses to take on apprentices to stimulate employment.

“After the global financial crisis, the previous National Government let apprenticeship numbers plummet and did nothing to support businesses to continue to put resource into training. Labour did the opposite during COVID-19 and supported businesses to keep people in work.

“Cutting the Apprenticeship Boost is only adding to rising unemployment, as thousands of Kiwis leave or lose their jobs in construction under National.

“Labour was proud to support businesses to keep on more than 62,000 apprentices through the Apprenticeship Boost programme.

“This is another example of Penny Simmonds taking the tertiary sector backwards. She will go down as the Minister who set polytechnics up to fail and failed New Zealand’s future workforce,” Dr Deborah Russell said.

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