One of Australia’s most well-known entrepreneurs is pushing young Aussies to consider picking up a trade instead of ‘wasting their time’ at university studying an arts degree.
Jim Penman, the founder of the Jim’s Group, advised young Australians to pursue a trade instead, despite holding a PhD in history himself. make clearer:
‘I can tell you that what I learned in my art degree had absolutely nothing to do with anything I’ve achieved in business.’
‘An arts degree is an incredible waste of time, and I think the problem is that they’re so heavily subsidised by the government,’ Mr Penman said.
‘And yet apprenticeships, which is basically dealing with people who aren’t quite so as academic are massively underfunded,’ he claimed.
‘It’s like there’s some sort of government policy that says, well, you know we can do without plumbers and electricians, but you can never have too many art historians.
‘We need more builders, we need people who can do things.’
Jim Penman, the founder of the Jim’s Group, advised young Australians to pursue a trade instead, despite holding a PhD in history himself
Students need to begin focusing on the trades again as there is a lot of opportunities and money to be made in the sector, Mr Penman said
He told Daily Mail Australia that the belief one must attend university and earn a degree to secure employment is misguided, as it may not necessarily provide the practical skills required for a job.
‘These days, you have to do a degree, but when you come out of it you still don’t know anything at all.
‘But if you’ve got a couple years of experience in something and you’re actually able to do something, then it’s quite easy to get a job,’ Mr Penman said.
‘The trouble is you go to university and you learn something for somebody who’s never been in the field. You know what they say, those who can do and those who can’t teach.’
He said that numerous young Australians feel compelled to pursue degrees because companies demand them.
‘More and more people are taking tertiary degrees in general, because they recognise that large companies, require it,’ he explaind.
‘But really you spent three years at university studying some useless subject. So at least you know you can stand being bored.’
Mr Penman suggested the government needs to increase funding for trade qualifications.
‘There should be a lot more money put into trade qualifications and basic qualifications,’ he said.
He said the trade education system in Australia also needed to be overhauled.
‘If you want to do roof plumbing, which is just basically sheets of iron, you have to do a four-year apprenticeship course,’ he said.
‘So [we need] a system of education that allows people to actually learn to do these sort of things more quickly and just be assessed.’
Mr Penman highlighted his company’s ability to train franchisees in trade skills within eight weeks.
‘We teach people to build fences and fencing is a fantastic business, it’s very lucrative, there’s masses and masses of work to be done so you can make a great living.
‘We teach a person eight weeks from scratch, and they’re good fencers.’
He suggested that the government should consider adopting a comparable model for vocational training.
The entrepreneur said that one way to kickstart the process was by offering government subsidies to employers, incentivising them to hire more trainees.
Mr Penman added that the entire trades education system needs an overhaul as many apprenticeships simply take too long to complete
The founder of Jim’s Group launched the company while he was completing his own PhD in history and it is now a franchise operating in four countries
Jim’s Group specialises in practical trades such as plumbing, mowing, fencing, roofing, and cleaning.
The company was launched in 1982 while Mr Penman was completing his studies and has since expanded into a franchise operation in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
Multi-millionaire entrepreneur Dick Smith was also pushing young Aussies to consider picking up a trade instead of studying at university.
‘If you want to become a doctor, or an engineer, well, that (education is) a necessity – but so often it is wasted, especially with people who get arts degrees and never use them,’ Mr Smith told Daily Mail Australia earlier this year.
The businessman said Australia needs more qualified tradespeople as record population growth – fuelled by immigration – puts further pressure on the housing crisis.
‘A tradesman can earn really good money, especially if he or she opens their own business,’ Mr Smith said.
‘My local electrician, he’s a millionaire. He’s done very well. And so, to me, a tradesperson who opens their own business can do incredibly well in Australia.
Australian entrepreneur Dick Smith says having a degree is not ‘necessary’ to becoming successful in Australia. Above, with wife Pip
‘I think there’s a greater chance for a person who’s trade qualified to open their own business, and employ their own people, than someone with an arts degree.’
Many Australians share the pairs’ perspective on the value of trades over university education.
‘Agree totally – even if they increase funding for useful uni degrees such as law, business, engineering and medicine, and get the students fund their own “fun” courses, it would make a huge difference,’ one said.
‘Uni in general is a scam and doesn’t provide the appropriate integrated training and experience,’ a second agreed.
However others suggested that young Aussies follow their passions.
‘Just study what you have a passion for, not every single thing in life has to be about hustle,’ one added.
‘Agree that more money should be put into trades training but those careers are not for everyone and plenty of useful career paths are underpinned by arts degrees,’ a second said.
A third added: ‘I’ll take my arts degree and the critical thinking skills it taught me over anything this right wing millionaire is selling.’