Skill shortages and strong business demand are encouraging more employers to take on apprentices, the Industry Training Federation says.
BCITO chief executive Warwick Quinn Photo: RNZ / Tom Furley
The increase in the number of apprentices is happening at a time when many universities and polytechnics are struggling for enrolments.
Industry Training Federation chief executive Josh Williams, said there were about 100,000 trainees and nearly 50,000 apprentices in the industry training system.
"We're certainly one part of the post-school system that is growing and that's largely a function of labour shortages and skill shortages across a great number of industries," he said.
Mr Williams said businesses were confident about the future and that was encouraging them to train their staff and to take on apprentices.
"Increasingly employers are committing because they've got the confidence and the business growth, and the shortages are there," he said.
"We are looking for more and more employers and we are seeing more and more employers that are saying, 'sure we can grow our own skills', and that is the easiest and most efficient way to get the skills that you need."
Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation chief executive Warwick Quinn, said trainee numbers in his sector had reached a record high and were still growing.
"Our growth's been good, we're growing 10 percent on year, we're at record levels of people in the system, about 11-and-a-half thousand at this point in time," he said.
However, Mr Quinn said the figure was still well short of the 50,000 to 60,000 workers the ITO predicted would be required over the next five years.
"We complete about 2500 a year and we think we need to add about another 1500 a year to that so that over that next five year period we'll reach the numbers that we think we'll need," Mr Quinn said.
He said competition for school-leavers and other potential trainees was high, and the industry needed to diversify its workforce by encouraging more women to sign up.
The chief executive of Skills, the industry training organisation for trades including electricians and plumbers, Garry Fissenden, said it had signed up record numbers of apprentices in each of the past two years.
"We've been growing at about 10 or 12 percent the number of apprentices. The sign-ups now are about 20 percent up on last year so we're on track for another record year," he said.
"As of today we've got about 7600 apprentices across technology, plumbing, gas-fitting, drain-laying, roofing and scaffolding and that number is just continuing to grow."
Motor Industry Training Organisation chief executive Janet Lane said its trainee numbers were steady with 5007 learners enrolled in training agreements by the end of May, compared to 5854 for the whole of 2017.
The chief executive of the Hairdressing, Beauty and Barbering ITO, Kay Nelson, said it had about 1000 trainees, up from nearly 800 a year ago.
She said the growth was mostly because of the introduction new beauty therapy qualifications.