Australia’s push to back local jobs and rebuild domestic industry risks being undermined by a deepening shortage of skilled tradespeople, Earlypay CEO James Beeson has warned.
The warning follows the NSW Government’s late May introduction of Local Jobs First Commission legislation, which aims to prioritise local workers, local suppliers and local small and medium-sized businesses in government procurement, while also helping to rebuild the state’s skills base through training requirements on major government projects.
Beeson, who along with Earlypay are strong advocates and supporters of the SME sector in Australia, said the bill had clear potential to support SMEs and strengthen local supply chains, but warned governments could not expect businesses to deliver more local jobs without a much stronger vocational training pipeline.
“This is a good reform in principle because it backs local business and recognises the importance of building capability at home,” Beeson said.
“But the hard truth is Australia does not currently have enough skilled tradespeople coming through the system to support the scale of local industry ambition being talked about.”
While there has been a slight uptick in trade commencements in the last year according to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), the most recent figures indicate a broader decline in trade apprenticeship commencements underway now for several years.
According to the NCVER, trade apprenticeship commencements were down almost 10% in the 12 months to September 2025.
Beeson said the figures exposed a serious mismatch between government policy and workforce reality.
Recent labour market analysis from Indeed Hiring Lab shows apprenticeship course completions are now around 64% below their 2012–13 peak, while around 9,800 temporary skilled visas were granted in 2024–25 for workers in the top 25 apprenticeship occupations. That is around five times higher than three years earlier.
Beeson said the two figures together pointed to a deeper structural problem.
“We regularly hear about supporting young people, aspiration and productivity, but the data shows Australia is becoming more reliant on importing skilled workers while our own training pipeline continues to weaken,” Beeson said.
“Skilled migration has an important role to play, but it cannot be a substitute for investing in the next generation of Australian tradespeople.”
Beeson said Australia was already dealing with weak productivity growth, housing shortages, skills shortages and capacity constraints across major industries, while becoming increasingly dependent on overseas supply chains for critical goods.
“If governments want more local jobs and stronger domestic manufacturing, they have to make it easier for businesses to train apprentices, not harder,” Beeson said.
“You cannot rebuild industry without the people who actually know how to build things.”
Beeson said the decision to abolish and reduce some incentives for businesses to take on apprentices, saving an estimated $300 million over five years, risked worsening the skills shortage at the worst possible time.
Beeson added the rapid rise of artificial intelligence made stronger investment in trades and vocational education even more important.
“AI is transforming many white-collar occupations, which means Australia should be doubling down on skilled trades, advanced manufacturing and vocational training,” Beeson said.
“If we don’t reverse this trend, Australia will fall behind countries investing in both technology and the skilled workforce needed to turn that technology into economic growth.”