An announcement from the federal government to help re-train the nation's job force to areas of growth could see the city's apprentice pool grow.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the JobTrainer program on July 16, which looks to create around 340,000 training places nationally - along with an additional $1.5 billion directed towards the subsidising of apprentice and trainee wages.
The training places will be focused on areas of projected job growth, with areas such as retail trade, manufacturing and healthcare on the list.
Engineering manager at Collier and Miller Paul Giovinazzo said while the announcement was a positive one, it would not be the sole reason to go out and hire more apprentices.
"It helps us with funding the training definitely," Mr Giovinazzo said.
"We're a manufacturing business and being so far from major cities, we rely on our apprentices for our recruitment and growth ... I hope it offers a bit more exposure to trades and the job security around this sort of trade."
However, Mr Giovinazzo flagged concerns about the number of people looking to enter apprenticeships in the region, and while the JobTrainer program and extra subsidy may encourage more people to look at apprenticeships, it could also increase the competition from companies seeking to lock down the best applicants.
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Collier and Miller are currently in the process of seeking apprentices for welding, sheet metal, fitting and machining.
"There's such a small pool of people wanting to do apprenticeships in the area so our biggest struggle is getting the numbers up," Mr Giovinazzo said.
"We aim for 8-10 apprentices per annum, but we always fall short because there's just not that many suitable kids out there for this sort of job.
"In our recent campaign that has been ongoing for about four weeks - I've so far received five applicants ... we've started early and we're hoping we can fill those positions by December."
The program was welcomed by the nation's small business and family enterprise ombudsman Kate Carnell, who said the program will help keep trainees and apprentices in a job.
"Small businesses consistently report that availability of suitable labour remains a major challenge," Ms Carnell said.
"This problem has been even more pronounced in regional and remote areas.
"The package will provide school leavers with a pathway to practical qualifications and older people out of work with the opportunity to retrain at very little or no cost."
For more information about Collier and Miller's apprenticeships, you can visit here.