Support for 55 new apprentices

Fifty-five new apprentices are now being supported in Mid-South Canterbury and North Otago, just 14 weeks after the Regional Apprenticeship Initiative kicked into action.

Most of the new apprenticeships are in the construction-related sector.

More than a third of the apprentices are school leavers, 14 are Maori or Pasifika, seven were either unemployed or had lost jobs due to Covid and three are young women.

Importantly, the initiative has also enabled businesses to retain other staff by starting them on an apprenticeship or developing their supervisory skills.

The Regional Apprenticeship Initiative is being administered in the region by Venture Timaru on behalf of the Provincial Development Unit, and chief executive Nigel Davenport has been overwhelmed by the quick uptake of the initiative by the region’s businesses.

“It proves there is a need here for our businesses and even better, that the initiative is doing exactly what the Government hoped it would achieve for this region by both supporting our businesses to put people into jobs and retaining valuable skills,” he said.

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