Dean Sweeney, a 2nd Year Apprentice Electrician unfortunately had to be let-go by his previous small business employer in late May due to COVID impacting the business. Dean found out about the National Apprentice Employment Network’s (NAEN) national Re-engagement Register and he knew that this was an avenue for him to link to employers looking to re-engage apprentices who had lost their jobs.
‘I thought I’d give it a go. It was easy to register’, says Dean.
Dean signed up to the register and applied to a vacancy advertised by a Group Training Organisation (GTO), the National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA).
NAEN follows applications through the register and contacted NECA regularly to see how Dean’s application was progressing. NECA Electrical Apprenticeships (NECA EA) contacted Dean who indicated he was very keen to continue his apprenticeship. Dean successfully completed both the NECA EA entry exam and the recruitment process and secured a host placement opportunity with one of NECA’s growing medium tier clients.
NECA says that Dean’s enthusiasm and commitment to continue his apprenticeship, along with his strong work ethic, positive attitude and excellent communication skills made the decision to re-engage Dean an easy one. Dean’s host company has said ‘Dean is settling well into the team and we look forward to providing him with the high level of training and skills required to allow him to excel in the electrical trade’.
Dean is happy that he is continuing his apprenticeship and says ‘I’m pleased I signed up to the register, NAEN sent regular emails and it was easy to see when new vacancies were posted.
‘NECA have been great – they took the time to understand where I was up to in my apprenticeship. I’m now with one of their host employers, and I’m enjoying being back at work where I can use my current skills and gain new ones at the same time.’
The national Apprentice and Trainee Re-engagement Register has been available since 2 April for apprentices and trainees who have been stood down from a small business. Apprentices or
trainees who worked for either a small or medium sized business and have lost their jobs after 1 July 2020 can also sign up.
The Australian Government’s Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy is assisting small and medium sized businesses retain their apprentices and trainees. Where they cannot be retained, employers of any size may be eligible for the subsidy when they re-engage eligible apprentices or trainees.
