Barely half of employers using VET training system

Barely half of employers are making use of nationally accredited VET training for their staff as the system continues its long-term decline.

New figures from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), show 50.9 per cent of employers made use of the VET system in 2019, down 3.5 percent from the year before.

And at a time when business and industry has never been more complex, use of even informal training is down.

In 2018, 74.1 per cent of employers provided informal training, down 7.3 per cent from 2017.

While unaccredited training was steady at 48.8 of employers, the proportion of employers providing no training at all was up by 4.1 per cent to 12.8 per cent.

The figures come from NCVER’s 2019 survey of more than 7,000 employers on their use and views of the VET system.

NCVER managing director, Simon Walker said: “Australian employers can make use of the VET system in three main ways.

“They can offer jobs that require vocational qualifications, they can employ apprentices and trainees, and they can provide their employees with nationally recognised training.”

Nationally, 34.2 per cent of employers had jobs requiring vocational qualifications in 2019, down 3.0 per cent since 2017.

The use of apprentices and trainees by employers remained steady at 23.2 per cent in 2019.

Employers’ use of nationally recognised training that was not part of an apprenticeship or traineeship was down 2.5 per cent to 19.9 per cent.

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