Research released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research said numbers dropped from 53.5 per cent to 52.4 per cent.

While a drop of 1.1 per cent over a 12 month period may not be the biggest, Verto CEO Ron Maxwell said the overall rate of completions was what stood out. 

“Fifty three per cent completion rate is quite low anyway, so to see a decline is very concerning,” he said.

“Most will leave their formal training in the first 12 months and this has remained pretty constant.”

He said the Griffith region also saw a drop in the number of people starting apprenticeships and traineeships.

“We're seeing an overall decline in commencements to about 26 per cent,” he said.

“What we’ve seen in Griffith is there has been a spike in automotive trades, some of the building trades have increased, but also a lot have decreased.”

He said pay was seen as a big reason for discontinuation.

“A big factor for people dropping out is their pay, because initially it is quite low,” he said.

“They're comparing their pay to their friends’ in other industries and it can be quite difficult seeing your friends earning more than you.

“So they make a decision that will affect them in the short term, but if they stick with it they will see a large pay increase.”​

Manager at Griffith H Hardware Aaron Stefanin said an attitude change may need to be in order.

“We go through quite few young blokes here but the main thing is attitude and work ethic,” he said.

“It's a lot different when they leave school and go straight into the work force, a bit unskilled I suppose.”

He said the social aspect of it may also play a big part.

“A lot of them lack a lot of life skills,” he said.

“When I was younger I used to go brick laying with my old man and then I wanted to be a builder.

“When I left school I could use a tape measure, but some people come here and they have no idea.”