Jai is just one of 15,000 apprentices who are out of work due to COVID-19, and tens of thousands more could follow

There are warnings tens of thousands of apprenticeships and trainee positions could disappear due to the economic fallout of COVID-19.

Using data from previous recessions, in which the number of people starting training crashed by 30 per cent within two years, researchers at the Mitchell Institute have predicted new apprenticeships will fall substantially for the next five years, with young people bearing the brunt.

Peter Hurley, a policy fellow at the institute, said hard economic times affected apprentices more than most other workers.

“I’m very concerned about what’s happening to our apprentices because of COVID-19,” he told 7.30.

‘It was meant to set me up’

According to the latest official figures, there are more than 270,000 apprentices and trainees in training in Australia.

Statistics from the National Australian Apprenticeships Association show that since March more than 15,000 have been stood down or had their training cancelled, and that number is expected to climb.

Apprentice mechanic Jai Beaven, 18, was made redundant last month after the garage where he worked in Ipswich in south-east Queensland sustained a large drop in customers wanting their vehicles serviced.

He said he was devastated because he loved the work and desperately wanted to finish his training.

“I planned to have that job for the rest of my life, and it was meant to set me up.”

Mr Beaven is now doorknocking local automotive businesses in search of an employer willing to take him on so he can continue his study.

If he doesn’t find one,