This paper asks whether the high rates of both unqualified tradespeople and attrition of qualified tradespeople from trade work necessarily represent a failure in the skill acquisition process for the skilled trades. The analysis suggests that there is demand for three levels of trade worker—a lower stream, which requires the least academic and vocational skills and embodies short and flat experience profiles; a higher stream which demands more academic and vocational expertise and steeper experience profiles and a third, more traditional trade stream which lies in-between. It is unrealistic to expect that a single trade qualification (the 3 to 4 year apprenticeship) will effectively service all streams equally well. Career path data suggest that there is increased polarisation of tradesmen s career paths into the highest and lowest streams over time. If valid, these findings suggest that there should be several types of trade training to supply these streams rather than a one-size fits all 3–4 year apprenticeship. Issues of licensing and multi-skilling for these new tiers of training should be decided by parties that have no pecuniary interest in the current training system. © 2003, Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
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