In 2021, the Inclusion & Belonging team launched a new initiative called 'Our People Their Stories'. Each month we hear from people across our business. These are ordinary people like us, who bravely share the experiences that shaped them and the lessons they learnt which has led them to think, act and live differently.

This month, we acknowledge World Youth Skills Day, an important day for Downer to acknowledge its apprentices, cadets and graduates.

In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly declared July 15 as World Youth Skills Day, to celebrate the strategic importance of equipping young people with skills for employment, meaningful work and entrepreneurship.  

At Downer, we are proud of our multigenerational workforce which is comprised of people from five different generations. Within our diverse workforce we acknowledge and appreciate our apprentices and graduates, who bring new energy to the business through their fresh perspectives, innovative ideas and generational differences. 

We recently met Luke Ockerby, an Apprentice Carpenter with VEC Civil Engineering within the Roads business. We got to learn a bit about Luke’s story and his thoughts on the importance of World Youth Skills Day.

Luke grew up in the north-west coast of Tasmania, where he discovered his passion for cycling as a young teenager. This passion led him to train and travel across the world for cycling, eventually gaining a place in the Australian Youth Olympic team. 

“I was fortunate enough to travel across Europe and North America for a few years racing semi-professionally. Unfortunately, I had a couple of big crashes in the U/23 Ghent six-day event which knocked me around and I pretty much stopped racing competitively about 12 months later.”

Upon returning home to Australia, Luke resumed a previous role working at a bike shop. He also enjoyed stints working as a lifeguard and a medical repair technician before starting his carpentry apprenticeship at VEC. VEC Civil Engineering initially started as a small business in Tasmania and is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Downer Group. VEC delivers roads, rail, bridges and water infrastructure solutions for Tasmanian communities and beyond.

It took Luke some time to find the trade he wanted to pursue. “When I left school, I had looked at getting into some sort of trade but didn’t really know what, so I decided to pursue my cycling career for a few years.” 

Luke currently works at the precast yard in Ulverstone, Tasmania. Luke and his team are responsible for making bridge components and other large concrete works. Since becoming a qualified carpenter, his work week involves reviewing drawings, building the formwork, tying reinforcement, as well as placing and finishing the concrete before lifting it out the frame the next day and starting the process again. 

Luke says, “I’ve always enjoyed being outdoors and getting paid to learn was a bonus so there didn’t seem to be any negatives to starting an apprenticeship.”

Every day Luke is learning from the people around him. His colleagues are from different generations, backgrounds and have different expectations and values about life and work. Luke feels that working in a multigenerational workforce can lead to conflicting ideas and opinions, but if people are open and willing to look at things from a different perspective, then everyone can learn from each other and work more efficiently and creatively. 

“It’s important to acknowledge that everyone has a unique skillset and if there’s a good workplace culture, this encourages all people – new and experienced workers, to voice their opinions and ideas. This is a positive thing and there are only great things that flow on from sharing knowledge.”

Through his apprenticeship at VEC, Luke has become aware of other opportunities to work on different locations and projects. An example of this, is being offered a role to work on the Perth Links Bypass project, which was made possible through completing his apprenticeship and gaining the required skills and experience.

Downer recognises the importance of providing the support and skills that young people need to grow their practical experience and begin a successful career. As technology evolves and the needs of employers continue to change, there is no doubt that being flexible and skilled is an advantage for young people looking to build their career.

Another important consideration is the transfer of knowledge from older generations to new and young people commencing their career. Luke says, “I definitely agree that new people need to learn from older and more experienced workers otherwise the knowledge will be lost, and this is not good for the business in a competitive sense.”

Outside of the precast yard, Luke continues to excel and compete, but in a different arena. 

Luke has been nominated for Apprentice of the Year in the Tasmanian Training Awards. Luke is excited about the prospect of winning the award but remains humble about the nomination. When asked why he thinks he was nominated, he said: “I think my life experiences and being a mature-age apprentice gave me a more disciplined approach to work. I think I have been a positive influence to those around me and my attitude and skillsets are reflected in my work.”

Luke has also taken up new sporting hobbies, spending his time scuba and hookah diving at various Tassie coastal spots. “Some of the best diving in the world can be found down here, especially along the east coast around Bicheno and the Tasman Peninsula”. Luke also enjoys walking on the beach with his fiancé Rachel and their border collie dog, Ava.