Cranking up the Supply

Tenix field services manager Alastair Borthwick credits Modern Apprentice Tracey Johnson with making a difference around the Palmerston North power distribution company. "She's paved the way. She's changed attitudes around here in some respects," Alastair says. 

 

She has "a fantastic attitude" and has performed extremely well in a male-dominated environment, he says. 

 

Alastair sees no reason why women can't be electricians, and says that after his experience with Tracey he would "absolutely" consider taking on another female apprentice. "Whether females choose to go down this vocational path or not is really up to them. There's nothing really stopping them from doing so," he says. 

 

Alastair is in charge of about 35 staff who manage electricity supply from Manawatu through to the Wairarapa. There are four apprentices at Tenix currently: two electrical fitters in the workshop and two line maintenance staff. "We don't have a huge number of trainees per year but we're trying to crank them up."

 

Alastair finds the apprenticeship schemes "a bit disjointed" compared to the way it used to be. "I much prefer the old way of doing things, with block courses and logbooks." But he concedes that a bigger problem is the shortage of skilled people to train the apprentices. 

 

For those that finish the course, he says a qualified electrician can make between $18 and $21 per hour. But since Tenix has to be ready to repair the power supply at any time, there are always opportunities to earn extra by being rostered on standby. Callouts after hours earn time and a half, and there are extra allowances for live line work. Some employees are making over $70,000 per year, he says.