Olivia Yeoman studied to be a beauty therapist before deciding she wanted to spend a bit more time outside.
The 20-year-old, who is now four months into her carpentry apprenticeship, said the change from the female-dominated industry to being the only woman on-site was "a bit of culture shock", but that her new colleagues had supported her through the good and bad days.
"I can see how it could be quite confronting and don't get me wrong, there's up and downs every day, but the boys that I work with are super good," she said.
The number of young apprentices leaving the industry has reached a five-year high. According to the Master Builders Association, 594 trainees in Canberra quit without becoming qualified in 2025. Over the same period, just 529 graduated.
Master Builders ACT chief executive Anna Neelagama said the number was alarming, and that without change there would not be enough skilled workers to tackle the housing crisis.
"The pipeline of apprentices still in training has shrunk by 18.3 per cent, signalling a significant setback for the future construction workforce in Canberra," Ms Neelagama said.
"There's a persistent lack of investment in construction skills across the ACT, with all 26 construction trades still in shortage."
The association is calling for "micro-credentials", which would support skill accumulation and re-entry into the industry, and an expansion to the fee-free TAFE program to registered training organisations, which have higher completion rates.
"We need a holistic apprentice journey that supports both apprentices and employers from sign-up through to qualification, improves completion rates, and delivers the skilled tradespeople Canberra urgently needs," Ms Neelagama said.
Ms Yeoman said she had been lucky to land a job with both a supportive boss and colleagues, but that she knew of others who had left the industry due to poor culture and injury.
"Mental health is a really big issue in trades. I'm very much in the younger generation. I feel I'm a bit more aware of mental health whereas older men are a little bit stuck in their ways," she said.
"It really depends on who you're working with. As much as people will try and tell you it's not the people, it definitely helps if you've got a good bunch around you."
Canberra-based builder Ben Clugston said he felt training apprentices was a way of giving back to the industry, but that apprentices did not always realise they were not adding value to the company for the first year or two.
Apprentices at larger job sites would become disengaged after putting "the same screw in a billion times", he said, but that there were no incentives for small businesses to take on the unskilled trainees.
"They're not cheap labour. To have a proper price and truly give them what they deserve, they're very expensive," he said.
"I understand the pay is tough for an apprentice, but I can't pay an apprentice if I can't make money. There's no apprenticeships if there's no employers," he said.
First-year apprentices under the age of 21 are paid a minimum of $17.86 an hour, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Earlier this year, Mr Clugston said more than 100 people applied for a single apprenticeship position he had open, and that many had told him it was the only job at a small business where they could learn multiple skills.
"We need more small employers out there willing to take on apprentices, and I think we'll see a better rate of turnover of apprentices converting to tradesmen," Mr Clugston said.
"If us small builders and small businesses are supported more, we'll have more room to employ more apprentices and truly teach more apprentices."
