The brain drain

By Sean Ryan

Reaping the benefits of hiring apprentices has become more difficult as recruits and journeymen trainers grow scarce and graduate retention drops.

"It's a cost investment," said Rick Kryzaniak, Town and Country Electric human resources manager in Appleton. "If anything, it is a burden to the company financially in the short term."

However, Kryzaniak said the cost of training apprentices is balanced by the benefits of having a homegrown worker.

"Starting them out as an apprentice you can ingrain on them your standards," he said. Finding the right candidate can prove difficult, said Marge Wood, apprenticeship consultant for the Wisconsin Technical College System Board.

"You don't have waiting lists like there used to be," she said. "You don't have as many people available out there right now, so the quality of work is a little more shaky."

New training grounds

Kryzaniak said the industry couldn't rely on high schools as a source of apprentices as it once did. "The schools are encouraging the kids to go on to college, not trades," he said.

Wood said contractors must look beyond high schools to find apprentices.

"The average apprentice age is 29," she said. "In order to meet the need they are going to have to (reach out) to more than just white high school males."

Kryzaniak said contractors should advertise in newspapers, visit high schools and use word-of-mouth to reach more candidates.

Even after finding apprentices, most contractors don't begin training until the candidates pay their dues as unskilled workers for a year. Dave Jones, president of Dave Jones Plumbing and member of the State Bureau of Plumbing Apprenticeship Standards, said this introduces apprentices to the trade and lessens their chances of dropping out during training.

Contractors looking to apprentice a laborer need to consider the shortage of industry journeymen. Apprenticeship programs must comply with state-set ratios requiring a certain number of journeymen for each apprentice.

"It's hard to get licensed plumbers because there's such a shortage and you can't take on apprentices without journeymen," Jones said. "It's a Catch-22."

Class time

Once a contractor finds an apprentice and satisfies the trade's journeyman ratio, the company must seek approval from a local advisory apprenticeship committee. The contractor then provides 1,900 to 2,000 work hours each year for the three-to-five-year apprenticeship.

During this period the contractor pays the apprentice a progressive wage for on-site labor overseen by a journeyman and for hours spent in class at a state technical college.

Retention after training is also something contractors have to keep in mind as many lose their apprentice after they are certified, Wood said.

Kryzaniak said apprentices usually leave their trainers after they're offered higher wages elsewhere. By keeping wages, vacation time, health-insurance and other benefits competitive, a company can retain apprentices.

"We keep in touch with the market and the employee to ensure we remain competitive with our benefits," he said.

Jones said he focuses on creating an appealing work environment for the apprentices in hopes of creating loyalty.

"Our goal is that when we have them for those five years we create a good relationship so that they stay on with us when they get their certificate," Jones said.

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