Apprentice Subsidies Breakdown

In early March 2021, The Federal Government announced they would give trade businesses massive wage subsidies to promote new apprentices’ hire. The scheme aims to create around 70,000 new apprenticeships to close the unemployment gap in young Aussie workers. For eligible businesses, the Government will subsidise 50% of new trainee wages for the first year, up to a cap of $7,000 per quarter.

Youth unemployment rates set to rise

Australian Bureau of Statistics, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, notes that data shows that by mid-February, the number of people in their 20s holding a job was down 2.5 per cent since the start of the pandemic. The next worst-hit age group were teenagers, down by 0.9 per cent. Studies show that when the unemployment rate rises, property crime rates increase in tangent. The long term impacts of prolonged youth unemployment include poor mental health, spikes in youth homelessness and drug and alcohol-related violence. The Morrison Government enacted this programme to decrease the projected youth unemployment rate and help get young Aussies off Government support like Job Seeker and back into the workforce. The scheme is costing the Government about 1.2 billion dollars, with open talks about further extensions to the program if it’s seen to be successful in reducing youth unemployment rates. The ABC noted that “the announcement is designed to provide reassurance in particular to school leavers — whose education has been so disrupted by the pandemic — that they will have avenues for employment when they graduate this year.” Overall, it seems the programme has support from both political parties with Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers, noting that Labor largely welcomes the announcement.

Who is eligible for the scheme?

Department of Education, Skills and Employment stated:

• Trade businesses that hire an Australian apprentice from 5 October 2020 and 30 September 2021 are eligible to partake in this scheme. • Apprentice or trainee hired must be undertaking a Certificate II or higher qualification and has a training contract that is formally approved by the state training authority. • The subsidy is up to 50% of the Apprentice’s gross wage • It’s available for trade businesses of any size, industry, and Australia wide. • This subsidy is NOT available for anyone currently receiving any form of wage support like JobKeeper. • You can begin claiming from 1 January 2021.

Final claims for payment must be lodged by 31

December 2022.

To find out specifics for your trade business or other information, contact an Australian Apprenticeship Support Network provider.

A step in the right direction

The pandemic has had significant impacts on employment across all industries, with youth hit the hardest in all sectors. There are growing concerns for this demographic if the Australian economy continues to recover at its current slow pace. Many trade organisations have been calling for much more sweeping wage subsidies to help trade businesses at every level, however this is at least a step in the right direction. It’s also worth carefully considering if taking on an Apprenticeship is right for you and your trade business — just because it’s on sale, doesn’t mean you have to buy it!

There are many small business grants currently available, so it’s worth researching for your trade business what other potential subsidies are available to you to figure out what will suit your business model best.

SCROLLING TO A HALT

Our social media news feeds are stuffed full of advertising, so it’s no wonder that we have become so desensitised to adverts. On top of that, the volume we are exposed to daily is increasing — making it difficult for companies to cut-through the wake of adverts and stand out to their target audience.

In 2019, LinkedIn noted that we see approximately 5,000+ adverts PER DAY, with that number set to rise. Compare that to the 1970s, when it was estimated to be a few hundred per day.

The only way to keep our brains functioning without going into drooling overload is to pay attention selectively.

Barron’s Dictionary defines selective attention as the “tendency of a consumer to pay attention only to messages that address a need or interest or are consistent with the consumer’s attitudes, opinions, and beliefs.” Have you noticed that when you decide to buy a car and start looking into red Mazda MX5’s, you suddenly see them everywhere? It seems that overnight everybody had the same idea as you and rushed out to buy one. Weird right? Well, the psychology is fascinating. You started seeing them because you cognitively chose to pay attention to that car.

So how the hell does that relate to owning a trade business?

Good point. You want to be that shiny red car that the customer sees and remembers. The second that they decide they are going to, for instance, renovate their bathroom, you want to ensure that YOUR plumbing company is the brand that they see and recall. This is called being 'top of mind', and it's a tough place to get — but not impossible! You need to be creative and unique with your marketing and spend your money wisely.

Social media is where most businesses spend their marketing dollars.

As mentioned, our social media feeds are already packed with adverts. The implementation of cookies and data tracking, are allowing the adverts we see to be more targeted to our interests, wants and needs — in a bid to cut through the clutter and grab your attention. That’s why the second you punch in “Red Mazda MX5’’ to Google, suddenly every second advert in your social media feed is for cars, or car related products. Your phone is tracking your search history, in order to provide you with targeted advertising. (creepy right??)

Research suggests our collective global attention span is narrowing because of the abundance of information presented to us. Therefore in order for your advert to stand out, you need to get smart. One way around selective attention, especially on social media, is humour — we are more likely to pay attention to funny adverts, and social platforms are a great platform for humour as it’s easy to like and share. Humour is a way for businesses to make an emotional connection with consumers.It tugs at our emotions, eliciting a positive emotion like laughter, which creates an impression. If you can get a potential customer to stop, and look at your advert because it’s funny that’s a massive win! Because they stopped scrolling and selectively CHOSE to pay attention to your advert.

The billboard methodology.

Scrolling through social media is similar to zooming along a highway.

When you’re speeding along a highway at 80kms you have approximately three seconds to see and digest billboard advertising. Given the miniscule time frame, it’s a basic marketing principles billboards therefore, should have a maximum of;

• Five words. • One simple image. • Logo positioned at the bottom right-hand corner. • Bright colours. These elements when combined, grab your attention and make the advertising quick and easy to understand. So it’s easy to understand why similar marketing principles should be applied to your social media marketing. We also tend to remember funnier things better than factual information, so keeping your advert short, punchy and humours is a sure-fire way to break through that attention barrier. So overall, to be a true scroll stopper you need to push past the selective attention barrier. The best advice is to just have fun with your marketing. Don’t overthink it, just create content that you believe resonates with your ideal customers wants and needs. You want them to notice you, and keep noticing you!

Marketing always feels daunting, and like throwing money into a black hole. But when you can break it down into small bite sized chunks, and understand the psychology behind it, suddenly it doesn’t seem so scary, and you can start creating scroll stopping adverts.

NEXT ISSUE

Quote Like A Pro

You spend big to get the customer to give you the opportunity to quote on the job. But then after you’ve sent them the quote… How often do you follow up with them? Once? Twice? And then what, nothing? The truth is, most quotes get approved on the EIGHT OR NINTH contact.

Mid-year Drag

Do you feel like you start the year full of ideas and hope? Then by mid-year you’ve lost all motivation, and your short-term plans have been thrown out the window? We feel that! We chat about how to keep on top of your goals, and keep the motivation train moving through the mid-year lul.

Fergus ad 210x74.indd 1 “We never miss a job and we never miss a product [cost] now. Everything gets billed out. So the difference in turnover and cash flow has been huge.”

Tyler, AXT Plumbing

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22/03/21 6:12 PM

Lifestyle Tradie Magazine is published by and © copyright by Andrew & Angela Smith, Lifestyle Tradie Group Pty Ltd 2021. All Rights Reserved. This newsletter and any accompanying material are for general information purposes only. It is the responsibility of the reader to comply with any local, state or federal laws. The Publisher has taken all reasonable measures to ensure that the material contained within this newsletter is correct. The Publisher provides no representation and gives no warranty as to the accuracy of the information and does not accept any responsibility for errors or inaccuracies in the information contained herein and shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising as a result of any person acting in reliance on information contained herein.