The Government is continuing its push to get more young people into trades and apprenticeships, dropping $27 million on two trades-based secondary school programmes.
And the funding boost could help solve the housing crisis.
Heretaunga student Adrienne Monk got to try out a job - architecture - through the Gateway programme, which helped her figure out it's not for her.
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"As soon as I came back to class and I was doing my artwork I found that was more of my passion," she said.
There's fierce competition for places on programmes that'll give them experience.
"Every year we have to turn away students because there aren't places," careers advisor Sue Hanlon said. "Now we know we will be able to get them into a programme they want to do."
That's because the Government is adding 2000 Gateway and Trades Academy places - at a cost of $27 million per year.
It's an attempt to plug the skills gap, and prevent young people ending up neither working nor studying.
"We actually do need a societal shift," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. "It's not just in our education system; it's in our communities, and those young people seek advice from, which includes our parents."
Experienced carpenters earn between $25 and $40 an hour - and the chance of getting a job is high. They earn more than dental technicians.
Ardern said she would encourage her own children into the trades.
"Definitely, absolutely," she said. "In fact I would find that very handy."
The Government's trying to convince school leavers the trades are as much of an option as university.
And the current shortage is causing real problems; a lack of carpenters makes it harder to get new homes built, contributing to the housing shortage - an Achilles heel for the Government.
Newshub.
