Our History

The sharemarket crash of October 1987 led to serious repercussions in the whole of the building industry.  Many employers were reluctant to take on apprentices due to the uncertainty regarding continuity of work.  The term of an apprenticeship was fixed; this meant taking on an apprentice for the entire period, or not at all.

In the early 90’s Industry Training Organisations were formed and took over what was left of apprenticeship training. They proceeded to expand both existing apprenticeships and introduce new traineeships in non-trades areas of industries. 

New National qualifications with competency based Unit Standards were registered on the NZQA Framework, replacing Trade and Advanced Trade Certificates.

However, many employers had already become concerned over the long term impact of the diminishing numbers of apprentices - on their own business, their industry and indeed the country.  Many of them had started as an apprentice themselves, and they could no longer see replacements coming through a system they had known and understood.

A career in the trades was not seen as particularly desirable, or even socially acceptable. There was a commonly held  view that every school leaver needed to a degree to get a good job. 

In the late '80s a group of “forward thinking” plumbers realised that unless something was done there would be a future shortage of skilled craftsmen in the industry. Members of this group agreed to share apprentices amongst themselves to help ensure that apprentices completed their time.

The Trust  was the pioneer group scheme for training and employing apprentices in New Zealand.

The apprentice’s wages were paid to the Trust by whichever employer had the apprentice at the time. The “host” employer could pass the apprentice over to another employer when he did not have work available. Word soon spread about the effectiveness of this system, and other employers in the Auckland region soon wanted to join in. 

After further planning and meetings with Government the Apprenticeship to Industry Trust was established in February 1991, and registered as a not for profit charitable trust. There were 10 apprentices by the end of the first year of operation.

By 1998 the numbers had grown to 75 apprentices shared between 200 “host” employers. Government and other industries were impressed, and the electrical and engineering industries soon had similar schemes in operation.