Skilling business for success

Western Australia's Jobs and Skills Centres are one-stop-shops for advice and assistance to support businesses and employers. There are 15 centres located throughout Perth and regional WA, with additional outreach locations and services for regional areas. All services are free.

JSCs can help if you're looking for:

• recruitment assistance, including for apprentices and trainees
• information on training solutions and services that can be customised to meet enterprise-specific needs
• advertising employment opportunities on our jobs board, or our Aboriginal services jobs board
• advice and resources to support your workforce planning.

Find out more: Looking for a new employee? We can help! | Jobs and Skills WA

The Jobs and Skills WA website includes a free jobs board, where you can post your employment opportunity — free!

Simply contact your local Jobs and Skills Centre on 13 64 64 to talk through how we can help you advertise your vacancy.

We also offer free access to an online jobs board specifically for opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander jobseekers.

Find out more: Free online jobs board | Aboriginal services jobs board | Jobs and Skills WA

When you are ready to hire an apprentice or trainee, you can contact a WA Australian Apprenticeship Support Network (AASN) provider.

Your AASN can:

• help you find an apprentice/trainee
• connect you with a registered training organisation
• provide a training contract for you and your apprentice to sign
• assess your eligibility for incentives
• help you work out timing and location of off the job training
• provide advice and support to you during the apprenticeship.

Find out more: Skilling solutions for business and employers | Jobs and Skills WA

If you would like to hire an apprentice or trainee, but need someone who has already completed some training and has skills and experience, the Out of Contract Register is now available.

The register is a list of apprentices and trainees in Western Australia who have recently fallen out of their training contract and are seeking a new employer to continue their apprenticeship or traineeship.

As an employer, you may be able to find a partially trained second or third year apprentice through the Out of Contract register and be eligible for a range of financial incentives.

Find out more: Support for employers of apprentices and trainees | Jobs and Skills WA

Employing Aboriginal people makes good business sense as Aboriginal employees add value to the diversity of your company and bring fresh insights and new ideas to help your business grow. Some government contracts may also have required targets around Aboriginal employment or training.

Find out more: Finding Aboriginal employees | Jobs and Skills WA

The Aboriginal services jobs board has been created specifically to connect employers and business with Aboriginal jobseekers.

When you register as an employer with the jobs board, you can create and list job advertisements for vacancies, promoting your business and its employment opportunities to Aboriginal jobseekers all across WA.

Find out more: Aboriginal services jobs board | Jobs and Skills WA

The Job Ready programs are taking a unique approach to developing entry level workers in construction. By combining targeted short course (skill set) training with a work placement, participants are ‘job ready’ to enter the workforce and transition into an apprenticeship or traineeship. You can be a work placement host employer or hire Job Ready program graduates.

Find out more: Skilling Solutions for Business | Jobs and Skills WA

Jobs and Skills Centres are located across regional Western Australia, and can offer free information, advice and support for your recruitment and training needs.

Find out more: Jobs and Skills Centres | Jobs and Skills WA

Regional TAFE colleges have business development and industry engagement managers who can assist your business with workforce planning and training.

Find out more:

• Central Regional TAFE
• South Regional TAFE
• North Regional TAFE

Jobs and Skills Centres, located across Perth and regional Western Australia, work closely with employers and businesses to provide free information and support about recruitment, training and workforce development.

JSCs can help you to find an apprentice or trainee, as well as help with information about financial support and incentives. They also offer a free online jobs board where you can post your employment opportunities.

All services are free! Contact your local JSC to find out how they can help you.

Find out more: Jobs and Skills Centres | Jobs and Skills WA

Your business may be eligible to access a range of financial incentives provided by the Western Australian and Commonwealth Governments; including:

• the Jobs and Skills WA Employer Incentive of up to $8,500
• the Apprenticeship and Traineeship Reengagement Incentive of up to $6,000
• wage subsidies for apprentices and trainees
• incentives for the employment of youth, mature aged persons, people with disability, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

These incentives help your business with the cost of taking on a new employee, apprentice or trainee. Multiple incentives can apply, so please contact the agency providing the incentive or a Jobs and Skills Centre to discuss your situation.

Find out more: Incentives to employ and train | Jobs and Skills WA

Please note that incentives are subject to eligibility criteria, waiting periods and time limits.

You work hard to meet your business goals, and investing time into planning and developing your workforce can be a challenge. Having the right information, tools and resources to support the process is the first step to success.

Find out more: Workforce planning: Useful information and resources | Jobs and Skills WA

Developing your workforce involves putting targeted workforce strategies and processes into place to help you achieve your current and future business goals. Strategies and processes that focus on the following areas may be valuable.

• Attract and recruit employees
• Training and development
• Manage and motivate employees
• Retain your employees
• Leadership and communication

A Workforce Action Plan can document, inform and guide the type of strategies that you need to put into place to help you meet your current and future business goals.

Find out more: Developing your workforce | Jobs and Skills WA

As a WA employer, you’re in a unique position to take advantage of new opportunities through the State Government's investment in projects and programs.

You'll need to be able to access skilled workers — not only to get the job done, but also to give you a competitive edge when bidding for major government tenders. By demonstrating your commitment to take on new employees — in particular; apprentices and trainees — you can position your business for success. Through Skills Ready, there’s a range of fee-free and reduced-fee training options available for upskilling and reskilling — included reduced fee pre-traineeships.

Find out more: Skills Ready | Jobs and Skills WA

There’s also a range of Job Ready programs, designed specifically to provide entry-level skills and knowledge in construction. If you’re looking for new team members — graduates of these programs are job ready! You can even get involved by hosting a Job Ready program participant for work placement, giving you an opportunity to not only contribute to their learning but also to meet your potential new employee.

Find out more: Skilling Solutions | Jobs and Skills WA

There are many different organisations that offer training in Western Australia including TAFE colleges, private training providers, universities, adult and community groups and education providers, schools, higher education institutions, commercial and enterprise training providers and industry bodies.

Find out more: training.gov.au Organisation / RTO search

There are five TAFE colleges throughout Western Australia with over 50 campuses from Esperance in the south to Wyndham in the north.

Find out more: WA TAFE colleges | Jobs and Skills WA

To help break down barriers for Aboriginal people through cultural awareness, specialised cultural awareness training is available.

You could also develop a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) to outline your commitment and the actions you'll take to build respectful relationships and communication that supports reconciliation, and to create meaningful opportunities with and for Aboriginal people within your organisation and community.

The Jobs and Skills WA Aboriginal Cultural Competency Directory lists providers of cultural competency support and training.

Find out more: Aboriginal Cultural Competency Directory | Jobs and Skills WA

WA’s Australian Apprenticeship Support Network (AASN) providers are contracted through the Commonwealth Government to deliver apprenticeship support services, and are responsible for the sign up of the training contract.

AASN providers can give you advice and assistance with recruiting, training and retaining Australian Apprentices.

Find out more: I want to hire an apprentice | Australian Apprenticeships

Perhaps your business would benefit from having an apprentice or trainee, but you may not have capacity to employ one because you:

• are unable to offer an apprentice or trainee a permanent position or guarantee ongoing work for the duration of the apprenticeship or traineeship
• might not have the range of work available to ensure that the apprentice or trainee gains all the necessary job skills for their qualification
• don’t have the time to undertake all the employment and on the job training responsibilities that are required.

A group training organisation (GTO) employs apprentices and trainees under a training contract and places them with host employers. The GTO undertakes the employer responsibilities for the quality and continuity of the apprentices’ employment and training.

Find out more: Jobs and Skills WA

There are more than 500 Apprenticeships and Traineeships to choose from in a broad range of industries. Employing an apprentice or trainee can help you to develop the skills of your workforce and could be the smartest decision you make. There are a range of incentives available to assist with the costs of taking on a new employee.

When you hire an apprentice or trainee, you're gaining a new team member who will have a long term commitment to your business and become highly skilled through a structured program of on the job training and formal training at a TAFE or training provider.

Need support, information or assistance with apprenticeships or traineeships, or accessing financial incentives and support? Call the Apprenticeship Office Helpline on 13 19 54. For callers outside of WA, please phone us on 08 6551 5499.

Find out more: Training | Jobs and Skills WA; List of apprenticeships; List of eligible traineeships

A training contract is a legally binding agreement between you as the employer, and your apprentice or trainee.

In signing the training contract, both parties are bound by certain obligations expressed in the contract, such as:

• the qualification the apprentice or trainee is working towards
• the nominal term of the apprenticeship or traineeship
• the number of hours in training and employment provided each week
• arrangements for on and off the job training.

Find out more: The apprenticeship/traineeship training contract | Apprenticeship Office