Surge in young Aussies ditching 'crippling' uni degrees for 'easy' route to well-paid jobs

An apprenticeship charity has seen a huge spike in applications as Aussies ditch the traditional pathway of going to university to set themselves up for the rest of their lives. With student loan debt being a serious thorn in peoples' sides, the idea of getting paid while you learn is clearly appealing to more and more across the country.

The number of people going through Apprenticeships Are Us, which helps young people prepare for an automotive apprenticeship, has nearly doubled since the COVID pandemic. General manager, Phillip Cooksey, told Yahoo Finance people seem to be waking up to the idea that university isn't the only route after school.

"There was a time there where universities were getting pushed and pushed and pushed," he said.

Have you gone down an alternative route to university and found success? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com

"And I think mums and dads out there have seen that 50 people finishing a university degree for a qualification that's only suitable for one to three jobs.

"So the chances of them actually progressing after that unless you're sort of in the top 5 per cent is very low. Whereas your trade backgrounds, you see some of these tradesmen driving around in nice cars, own nice houses, boats."

In the 2021-22 financial year, Apprenticeships Are Us had 103 people commence their training. That number went up to 142 the following year.

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But in the 2023-24 financial year, they've had a whopping 238 people kickstart their careers, and there is still more than a month to go until those numbers are finalised.

Cooksey said apprenticeship can have a huge advantage over university.

"Once you finish your four-year apprenticeship, you've got the knowledge, but you've also got the practical experience to back up that knowledge," he told Yahoo Finance.

"Whereas your university, you spend all your time in the lecture rooms and discussions and textbooks, but you're not actually getting that sort of hands-on experience to back that up."

The perfect pathway for someone who 'hated' school

Lachlan Llewellyn finished his training to become a diesel mechanic last year and said it's the perfect career for him.

"I would recommend getting an apprentice over uni," he told Yahoo Finance.

"I've heard with uni you can end up with crippling debt and sometimes [the degree] isn't actually what you want to do in life."

The 26-year-old "hated" high school and left in Year 10 to pursue a trade. He'd seen his older brothers become tradies and wanted to do the same thing.

After four years of being an apprentice, his starting salary is around $35 an hour, which works out to be close to $70,000 a year, based on a 38-hour week. He said the average salary for his trade can get up to $50 an hour, or $98,800 a year.

But, that could climb as high as $90 an hour if he picked up a fly-in, fly-out job in the mines.

Not only is the pay decent, but the father-of-three said it's great for his personal life.

"Where I'm working, it's easy," he told Yahoo Finance. "I start at 6am and leave at 2:15pm, I have time to pick my young bloke up from school, I get to spend a whole arvo with him up until bedtime, so it's really good."

Going into a trade can have some huge pay offs

Llewellyn explained being a tradie won't be for everyone as you have to be prepared to get your hands dirty and be fit enough for the physical pressures of the job, but he reckons it's perfect for people who aren't sure what they want to do in life.

A survey by Australian Industry Group found tradies earned 16 per cent more money at 25 years old than their tertiary-educated counterparts. However, it also found tradies were working an extra seven hours a week, on average, than their peers.

Superior People Recruitment founder and director Graham Wynn believes the value of a university degree has diminished and trades are now “the way to go”.

“Unless you are an engineer or a doctor or something where you must have a particular qualification to do that job, the rest of them really have no benefit whatsoever,” Wynn told Yahoo Finance.

More apprenticeships are desperately needed

The spike Apprenticeships Are Us has seen is definitely at odds with what's happening across the rest of the industry.

A National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) report released in March found the number of apprentices in training in building and construction has decreased from September 2022 (124,120) to September (120,881) the following year.

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said the industry desperately needs more people to do apprenticeships.

"The building and construction industry workforce is ageing and has a typical exit rate of 8 per cent a year. Master Builders estimates we need half a million new entrants over the next three years.

“We are not doing enough to plug this gap. There are not enough new entrants to the industry to meet building and construction targets, including 1.2 million new dwellings under the Housing Accord, or the transition to net zero by 2050."

But the numbers from Apprenticeships Are Us could be the start of a turning tide that will ripple across the rest of the trades industry.

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