Connecting automotive businesses with the enthusiastic young people who will become the future leaders and skilled workers within the industry is one part of MTA Queensland’s strategy to help tackle the workforce challenge many businesses face.
The most obvious example of the Association’s work in this area is in its relationship with Capricorn, which has seen it run careers expos in parallel to the frequently held Capricorn trade shows, shepherding hundreds of school students and young people through the events to meet the many businesses that attend.
However, MTA Queensland works closely with other organisations as well to provide businesses with workforce assistance, including Busy At Work which, amongst other avenues, works with MTA Queensland to deliver the Automotive Women in Trades Apprenticeship Mentoring Program.
One instance of the successful collaboration between these two leading organisations is 17-year-old Ripley Lewis, who recently started a school-based light vehicle apprenticeship with Fulcrum Suspensions at Arundel on the Gold Coast.
“I started my apprenticeship in August, and I have been doing lift kits on different types of 4WD drives of late, but also little bits and bobs on other different types of cars, and also learning about wheel aligning,” said Ripley. “And I am really enjoying it.”
It was back in 2023 that Ripley attended a Women on Tools event hosted by NAWIC (National Association of Women in Construction) at which she connected with Kate Shapiro, a Women in Trades Specialist Support Officer with Busy At Work.
That meeting would lead to Ripley completing a Certificate II in Automotive Vocational Preparation and, ultimately, with her resumé reaching Tegan Crossman, the Automotive Schools Program Coordinator at MTA Queensland. Tegan then worked with Leanne McKay from Fulcrum Suspensions to find Ripley a spot with the company – a spot that started with a trial day, but which soon led to an apprenticeship position.
“My trial day went really well,” said Ripley. “A little while later I was offered the apprenticeship and that has been going really well. It is exactly what I expected and hoped for. It’s definitely hard work, but it’s also very enjoyable. I love my job!”
A passionate young apprentice is exactly what Wade Butt, Manager of the Fulcrum Gold Coast shop, was looking for.
“What I really liked about Ripley when I met her was that she had a great enthusiasm for the automotive industry, and cars in particular, which is getting harder and harder to find,” he said. “That’s what drew me to her and what made me want to give her a chance.
“… And she is going really well. Very enthusiastic. I don’t have to ask her to do things around the shop . . . she’s happy to get in there and give it a go.”
Like many businesses in the automotive industry, including other major players, Fulcrum Suspensions recognises how important it is to encourage and support the next generation of apprentices and technicians. It likely helps that as vehicle manufacturers make ever more interesting and technologically advanced cars, Fulcrum is doing the same with its own products and services – a move that should be compelling to the younger generation.
“For young people, this is an area of growth . . . We are unique in that we design and manufacture a lot of the equipment that we install, and our apprentices get access to our research and development team,” said Leanne McKay from Fulcrum. “They can talk to the engineers that are designing these components, and they can see how we’ve developed strategies to adapt to changing technologies, the new vehicles coming in and changing demands of our customers.
“For those who are passionate, it’s a really interesting and intriguing industry to be part of.”
For Ripley, her interest in cars and her enjoyment of the work should see her launch what will become a long and successful career in the industry. However, there is support out there for her, should she require it.
Recognising that apprentices can find the early months and years quite tough and can sometimes fall by the wayside and leave the industry before completion, organisations such as MTA Queensland and Busy At Work, as well as the businesses for which the apprentices work, are putting in the effort to support them.
MTA Queensland and Busy At Work, through its Busy Sisters program, have partnered to deliver the Automotive Women in Trades Apprenticeship Mentoring Program which offers support to female apprentices through the first couple of years of their training. Other initiatives and programs, including the School to Work program, are available through MTA Queensland’s Workforce Solutions team and offer apprentices and businesses the support they may need.
Ripley has recently joined that Automotive Women in Trades Apprenticeship Mentoring Program but has already enjoyed some support in her quest to join the industry.
“Busy Sisters has supported me along the way since I first started . . .,” she said.
“They have helped from the beginning in terms of even getting my apprenticeship and giving me the courage to sign up.”
That support would be ongoing, said Kate Shapiro, and was a sign of the strong and meaningful relationships being built between key industry organisations, businesses and stakeholders.
“Busy at Work is connected with MTA Queensland’s School to Work program,” she said. “Specifically with Ripley, we have worked together not only to find the right candidate but, along with the incredible employer here at Fulcrum Suspensions are working together in creating Ripley’s apprenticeship and supporting her throughout that process.”
MTA Queensland will continue to work on creating the best opportunities for young people to get into the automotive industry and to help businesses secure the talent they need to tackle their workforce challenges.
“MTA Queensland has a number of initiatives now in place that are designed to put young people in contact with automotive businesses and help them secure school-based apprenticeships and work experience and help guide and assist them through their training as well,” said Tegan Crossman. “The automotive industry needs skilled workers and MTA Queensland, through these programs, is there to help.
School to Work Transitions is part of the Queensland Government’s Good people. Good jobs: Queensland Workforce Strategy 2022-2032.
Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (November 2024)
26 November 2024