Illustrating the need for training in the technical fields, a Grand Bahama Shipyard executive notes that when apprenticeship programs in many industries across the world were downsized or dissolved, companies saw rising operating costs and diminished profits due to the inefficiency of the workforce and many even closed.
Years ago in most parts of the world, every industry had an apprenticeship program that taught the specifics of the trades to individuals in order to help them develop into qualified craftsmen, Byrd shared.
The Grand Bahama Shipyard currently operates such a program.
These programs were mostly always four years in duration and comprised of both practical work and theory taught by qualified instructors.
However, due to rising operating costs and diminishing profits, many of these programs scaled down or stopped, a move which did not take into consideration the long term future of industry.
Some 17 to 20 years later the older craftsmen began to retire and there were no fully qualified candidates to fill their slots.
“This created what we in the industry call the gap, being a lack of true craftsmen to fulfill the workforce. As new programs emerged, the industrial sector started again to slowly gain strength,” said Senior Vice President of Operations at the Grand Bahama Shipyard Reuben Byrd.
