Cover image courtesy of Thoroughbred Industry Careers
The third edition of the Explorer Cadetship Program gets underway on Monday, with 23 students beginning on their path into prospective future employment in the thoroughbred industry, and hopefully help relieve the skills and labour shortage which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
When Thoroughbred Industry Careers CEO Lindy Maurice started out the Explorer Cadetship Program in 2019, it was designed as an entry-level education program, covering both the breeding and racing sectors to give students a holistic view of the industry. It was in response to an industry-wide shortage of staff, which provided a significant threat to its prosperity moving forward.
Over the past two years, 65 students have been through Thoroughbred Industry Careers (TIC) programs, and with an 89 per cent retention rate in the industry, the vast majority have gone on to work in the nation's stud farms and racing stables.
The journey starts on Monday for the Class of 2021, which begins with a three-month practical and theoretical learning block in Richmond, NSW, while students live-in at Western Sydney University (Richmond Campus).
"We have 23 people starting on Monday and every state is represented. We've got people from the Northern Territory and Northern Queensland, so they are coming from far and wide. The program is really growing momentum and it’s growing in its reputation," Maurice told TDN AusNZ.
"The program is really growing momentum and it’s growing in its reputation." - Lindy Maurice
"The first day is like getting to a yearling sale and seeing all the yearlings. They all look shiny from the outside and then we put them into training and see what they are really about.
"It’s always the most exciting day, when you get to meet everybody and you get to watch their progression. It will be interesting to see out of this crop of kids, who becomes trainers, who becomes trackwork riders, bloodstock agents or whatever in the future."
The strong retention rate of graduates of the program to date in the industry is something which Maurice sees as a point of pride, given the volume of new faces that have flowed into the industry in the past couple of years.
"Some of the cadets who have graduated have gone on to do really great things and are getting noticed in the industry. This is our third year and we have had 65 through our programs, so including this year, that's nearly 90 people," she said.
"Retention is absolutely key. That's an industry-wide issue, so it's pleasing that our numbers are really strong, but by building a network for these kids and being there to hold their hands a bit, that's been really important as well."
Lindy Maurice | Image courtesy of Thoroughbred Industry Careers
Keeping people in the industry
At the end of the three-month training block, each student is assigned to a leading trainer where they spend four and a-half months on their first paid work experience in a racing stable, followed by four and a-half months on a leading stud farm. Maurice said these key partners plus ongoing mentoring and guidance have played a substantial role in the successful retention of students.
"It’s a tough working environment in our industry, so to get these young people trained up, it’s key to put them with the right employers. That's absolutely key in terms of retention. That doesn't mean that they need to be with players that are big or small or whatever, it’s just who is going to give these guys a really good shot at it," she said.
"It's the only program that I know in the world, at an entry level, which gets to show people both the breeding and racing sides, which is unique.
"Education can often tend to be quite parochial in that it is one specific thing that you are learning about. I think the key to good retention rates is that you give people the scope that these are all the things you can do. They can then work out what they might suit them. Therefore they are doing a role which they are more likely to stay in."
Explorer Cadets
Call for support heeded
Thoroughbred Industry Careers put a call out early this year for further financial support of its programs, and Maurice said that the response to that has been positive, albeit that the longer-term funding was still not assured.
"The core founding members have been incredibly supportive. They are real believers in what we are doing. We did a call out in January and we have received some additional support from that," she said.
"We still have to work out a long-term funding structure, because we really want to grow our funding structure and the more money we have, the more people we can train up and put into jobs. The more young people we can reach through marketing and things like that, so people know there is an industry waiting for them with jobs and horses. More money, means more people into the workplace."
Maurice said the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in stopping the flow of workers being sourced from overseas, had further highlighted the need for programs like the Explorer Cadetship.
"COVID-19 has shown how exposed we are to this international casual workforce," she said. "We will always want that international aspect, because we are an international industry but we need to ensure we have a strong core of that Australian workforce, so we aren’t so exposed, because people are still really struggling to find staff," she said.
