The next generation of energy workers have started work on the frontline, helping to deliver one of the nation’s biggest and smartest infrastructure programs.
Eighty-two new apprentice-line workers, electricians, cable jointers and motor mechanics have begun their four-year on-the-job training at Ausgrid, the largest electricity distributor across the country.
Ausgrid managing director George Maltabarow congratulated the new employees recently, who were formally welcomed into their new roles at the nation’s largest electrical training centre in Western Sydney.
“These new apprentices will be working on the frontline, helping to keep the electricity network safe and reliable for more than 1.6 million customers,” Mr Maltabarow said.
“They will also help complete one of the country’s largest infrastructure programs and deliver new programs to make our network more efficient and smarter for homes and businesses.”
The new recruits are aged between 16 and 55. About 10 per cent are from Indigenous or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds and there are six women among them.
Ausgrid’s crew of new apprentices have been recruited from around the state, including 20 from Newcastle and the Hunter Valley, six from the Central Coast, four from the Illawarra, 51 from around Sydney and one from the New South Wales mid north coast. Mr Maltabarow said the apprentices would be trained at the new Learning Centre in Silverwater or other training centres in Wallsend and Muswellbrook.
“We’re now training more than 500 apprentices across the business. We are one of the single largest employers of apprentices in New South Wales,” Mr Maltabarow said.
