Apprenticeship Boost Scheme extended

benstevens Civil, Civil Trades, Energy, News, NZ Apprenticeships, Telco, Water

Connexis supports the extension of Apprenticeship Boost, as announced by Education Minister Chris Hipkins yesterday. The Government has pledged $230 million to extend the Apprenticeship Boost wage subsidy to the end of 2023. It was previously set to end on 4 August 2022. Connexis Director Kaarin Gaukrodger says this is welcome news. “New Zealand is facing a significant infrastructure deficit. …

Give your standout trainees the chance to shine on an industry stage

benstevens Energy, News, NZ Apprenticeships, Our People, Telco

Nominations have opened for the Connexis Excellence Awards (formerly the Connexis Industry Excellence Awards). The awards honour the best and brightest energy and telecommunications trainees from across the motu for their hard work, dedication and expertise. They also recognise those individuals who invest their time and energy in the training and development of youth in these industries. This year, the …

Apprenticeship Boost coming to an end on 4 August

benstevens Civil, Energy, News, NZ Apprenticeships, Telco, Water

Apprenticeship Boost is a $380.6 million wage subsidy offered by Ministry of Social Development (MSD) to support employers to keep and take on apprentices. The payment is made directly to employers and was established to keep apprentices earning and training towards their qualifications as the economy recovers from the impacts of Covid. Apprenticeship Boost will be available until 4 August …

Changes to government funding support for industry training

benstevens Civil, Energy, News, NZ Apprenticeships, Telco, Water

TTAF set to finish on 31 December 2022 Apprenticeships and most training programmes have been fully funded by the government since July 2020 through a scheme known as TTAF (Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund). TTAF is set to finish on 31 December 2022. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? That means apprenticeships and training programmes started from 1 January 2023 onwards will …

Bridge the divide: Workforce skills and the infrastructure boom

benstevens Civil, Energy, News, NZ Apprenticeships, Water

By Kaarin Gaukrodger, Director, Connexis – the infrastructure business division of Te Pūkenga Work Based Learning Limited Story first published in LG Magazine (March 2022 edition) Putting in place a formalised qualification and competency pathway for infrastructure workers to follow in pursuit of skills and career options is central to plugging the current gap between workforce capabilities and growing industry …

eNews April 2021

Connexis eNews, News, NZ Apprenticeships, Our People, RoVE

Kia ora koutou, Much is changing around us as the once-in-a-generation Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE) reaches its zenith this year.  When change arrives it often appears to be inconvenient timing, even when it is addressing issues that we have long searched for better solutions for. This year we are faced with significant changes to industry training, coinciding with unprecedented …

Taking the hard road – Kat Kaiwai

benstevens Civil, News, NZ Apprenticeships, Our People

The highlight of Katareina Kaiwai’s four-year journey to achieve her Civil Infrastructure Apprenticeship was getting it finished.  That is not to say that Kat, who now runs her own roading firm, Tairāwhiti Contractors, did not enjoy her training. In fact, one of the first things she did after completing her Apprenticeship was to ask her Connexis Customer Service Account Manager (CSAM) what qualification she could do next.  However, she says it was only once she got to the end of her training that she …

November eNews

Prue Feely Civil, Energy, eNews, NZ Apprenticeships, Ultimit / Women in Infrastructure, Water

Kia ora koutou, There’s a lot of change happening in our sector, and we’ve embraced that with some changes of our own.  At the end of the year I’ll be leaving Connexis to join BCITO (the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation) and Kaarin Gaukrodger, our very able and experienced General Manager, will be taking over the reins.    I’m immensely proud of the team at Connexis and …

Government announces Free Trades Training scheme – a welcome boost for the Infrastructure Industry

Prue Feely Civil, Energy, News, NZ Apprenticeships, Telco, Water

The Government’s recently announced Free Trades Training scheme is a welcome boost for the Infrastructure Industry.  It provides a platform for attracting keen new workers to build the required workforce capacity and capability to deliver on the pipeline of infrastructure projects. The Targeted Training and Apprenticeship Fund (TTAF – also called Free Trades Training) of $320 million was announced by …