North firms axe 230-plus apprenticeships in year

Employers in the North shed at least 230 apprenticeships in the last year with the construction industry hardest hit, it was revealed today.

More places could be axed with the worsening economy tempting employers to abandon trainees, Stormont Assembly member Sue Ramsey (Sinn Féin, West Belfast) added.

Employment Minister Reg Empey is encouraging other companies to take on more of those made redundant and offering conditional funding towards additional wage costs.

Stormont employment committee chair Ms Ramsey said: “As we move towards greater economic difficulties members of the committee remain to be convinced that these measures will be enough.

“It is likely that more and more employers will have to tighten their belts and may often regard apprenticeships as a luxury that they can’t afford.

“It would be appropriate for the minister and his department to consider measures that more fundamentally address the problem of a system of apprenticeships that relies so heavily on the good will of employers and which can unravel in an economic downturn, as we are now witnessing.”

A total of 164 of the 230 apprenticeships axed in the 12 months up to the end of October were in construction, Ms Ramsey added.

Empey admitted the number out of work had probably increased since then but said he could not force employers to take on apprentices.

He added that he was working with further education colleges so that people axed can continue to train.

“We are incentivising the employers by offering some money,” he added.

The minister favours bringing forward major government infrastructure programmes to produce work.

Yesterday health minister Michael McGimpsey called for an extra £250m (€305m) to ensure a new women and children’s hospital was built within the ten-year investment strategy period.

Empey added: “There are things we can do, things on planning, on trying to accelerate the programme of capital expenditure and things we can be doing to ensure that we see how we can curtail and shorten the period a project runs from start to finish.”

The Department is enabling apprentices, in priority skills areas, to continue training under its Steps to Work programme.

It is also making arrangements with FE colleges to allow other elements to be completed.

For those aged under 18, training can continue under the pre-apprenticeship section of Training for Success.

These arrangements are expected to be in place by the beginning of December.