Ken Cleland, chairman of the Print and Packaging Training Council in Northern Ireland, and chief executive of Graham & Heslip, said: Employers are not investing in training. I think that the only way would be to impose a training levy.
He said too many companies were content to let other firms train tomorrows workers and then try to poach them. Graham & Heslip has taken on four apprentices this year.
More than 50% of the applicants have four GCSEs in grades A to C, and four have degrees.
PGC NTO chief executive Richard Beamish said the situation in Northern Ireland was not typical of the rest of the UK, where students entered printing via foundation courses and were not reliant on finding an employer to sponsor them.
BPIF chief executive Michael Johnson said the federation was always looking for employers willing to take on trainees, but it was not usually hard to find places for quality candidates.
Progress in training
June 2001 Print 21 says training is a priority
August 2001 GPMU withdraws support for Print 21 following BPIFs refusal to recommend a training levy
October 2002 GPMU takes levy campaign to Labour Party Conference
December 2002 BPIF and GPMU sort out differences and support Printing Industry Forum
July 2003 BPIF says it will tackle training through new Print Education Forum
Story by John Davies
