“I wasn’t anticipating any replies, however one enterprise bought again to me and stated sure.”
Ashby began his apprenticeship and 6 months later, started a 2½-year course at North Metropolitan TAFE.
“I lastly have a profession I’ve ardour for,” he stated.
“University is nice for a lot of, however it’s not the be-all and end-all. My recommendation to younger individuals leaving faculty is to not shut your self off to choices primarily based on others’ opinions and have a great take into consideration the place you wish to be.
“Work takes up 70 to 80 per cent of your life and you need to take pleasure in it – and also you don’t must go to college to generate profits.”
Simon Ashby was a WA Apprentice of the Year 2024 finalist after finishing Certificate III in Cabinet Making. He now works for Kindred Design and Cabinetry.
The variety of college students selecting to review ATAR programs throughout WA is dropping.
In 2025, the participation price was simply 27 per cent of the varsity leaving-aged cohort.
In distinction, the variety of college students enrolling in TAFE has elevated and sure vocational professions have recorded a rise in graduates.
That enhance isn’t a surprise, with the state authorities investing in low-fee and fee-free TAFE programs.
Skills and TAFE Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson not too long ago introduced that from January 2026 there can be six extra development trades and pre-apprenticeships added to the fee-free and low-fee TAFE plan.
“We’re working round the place these pinch factors are within the financial system, and clearly housing and clear vitality infrastructure are two areas the place we wish to considerably increase these trades,” she stated.
“You are assured a job for those who do {an electrical} commerce. They are well-paid jobs, and so they’re safe jobs in Western Australia.”
According to Jobs and Skills Australia, over 90 per cent of recent jobs would require post-secondary {qualifications}, with round 44 per cent particularly requiring a vocational qualification.
A Department of Training and Workforce Development spokesperson stated these figures underscored the “significance of a powerful, built-in tertiary training system that helps a number of pathways to success.”
“It’s important that every one Western Australians – particularly school-leavers – are conscious of the total vary of tertiary research choices obtainable to them,” they stated.
“Publicly funded enrolments at WA TAFE schools have grown by 25.5 per cent since 2020, reflecting a optimistic shift amongst younger people who find themselves embracing VET as a profession pathway.
“More than half of WA’s VET college students are below the age of 25, highlighting the sector’s vital position in shaping the subsequent era of expert employees.”
A brand new report from Pearson, titled Lost in Translation, has revealed college graduates now face challenges in underemployment and unsure profession pathways.
That matches information from the 2024 Graduate Outcomes Survey, which discovered full-time employment for undergraduates nationally fell to 74 per cent final 12 months.
The Jobs Availability Snapshot additionally discovered entry-level jobs had declined over the past decade and accounted for lower than 11 per cent of all positions marketed in 2024.
Pearson’s nation head and ANU spokesman Taha Haidermota stated the standard school-to-career route, which frequently champions college, was now not match for goal.
“You hear a whole lot of conflicting issues – on one hand, Australia has bought a ability scarcity after which on the similar time, there are people who find themselves getting certified after which struggling to search out employment of their chosen discipline,” he stated.
“The report discovered it’s $104 billion a 12 months that we lose throughout the transition interval between training and work, or between jobs.
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“And behind all of those numbers are individuals. Every younger one that doesn’t get right into a profession or doesn’t discover work immediately, that’s misplaced earnings, it’s a lack of confidence, lack of alternative.”
Haidermota stated younger individuals in WA had an unemployment price of round 10 per cent – virtually twice as excessive as the remainder of the financial system.
He urged the federal government and employers to think about different methods of hiring individuals, together with by creating house for internships or apprenticeships and upskilling them on the job.
In specific, this is applicable to the sources sector, which Haidermota stated employed as much as 50 per cent of the WA’s workforce.
“This isn’t the archetypal Nineteen Fifties state of affairs the place you get one job and also you go for 40 years – steady studying and reskilling is vital,” he stated.
“We have too many employees whose new expertise we don’t know the way to use.”
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