Paper short abstract:

Fieldwork at a New Zealand precision engineering company is providing a picture of the way artisanal apprentices are the focus of groups with often conflicting aims. This paper looks at the impacts of this situation on those most affected - the workers themselves as they acquire the skills of their trade.

Paper long abstract:

The notions of 'skill' and 'knowledge' feature frequently in the discussions and proclamations of economists, educationalists, business people and politicians. In New Zealand the 'lack of skilled workers', the need to 'up-skill the workforce' or be 'part of the knowledge ecomomy/society' are frequently heard phrases and demonstrate the way these words have been appropriated into everday and political discourse and presented as a means of economic salvation for the country. In my current research at a precision engineering company I am gaining an insight into what these notions and their accompanying cultural understandings mean to those who are the target of these various institutions - the workers themselves - in this case, precision engineering apprentices.

In New Zealand, the delivery of artisanal training has been the focus of major policy changes during the last fifty years. Presently, a number of organisations, including employers and workplaces, are involved in the delivery of this training. My fieldwork at the company is providing a picture of the way the often conflicting aims of these groups impact on those within this workplace.