{"id":135414,"date":"2025-09-11T14:37:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T14:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/135414\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T14:37:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T14:37:11","slug":"former-the-block-star-keith-schleiger-says-next-gen-of-tradies-want-to-be-mollycoddled-and-lack-work-ethic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/135414\/","title":{"rendered":"Former The Block star Keith Schleiger says next gen of tradies \u2018want to be mollycoddled\u2019 and lack work ethic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former The Block regular Keith Schleiger has called out modern day apprentices for their lack of work ethic a year after his departure from the home renovation show<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Best known to fans as Foreman Keith, or The Blockinator, the construction veteran stepped away from the reality series after 16 seasons to enjoy more time with his wife and two kids, and has continued to renovate bathrooms on his own schedule.<\/p>\n

Speaking to PerthNow about his latest ventures, Schleiger couldn\u2019t mask his true feelings regarding the next generation of blue collar workers.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Young tradies) want to be mollycoddled as much as possible. I\u2019m also finding the standard of people before they start is not the same,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n

However, the 50-year-old suggested the blame does not fall entirely on apprentices, lamenting a lack of education available to them, at least in his home State.<\/p>\n

\"DanCamera IconDan (left) with fellow foreman Keith. Credit: Channel 9<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve taken away tech schools from the schooling system in Victoria, and it\u2019s really made a big difference to the standard of tradesmen that we have,\u201d Schleiger added.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the old days, apprentices were ready to go before they started, because they\u2019ve done plenty of hours in school. These days they don\u2019t, and it takes them a long time to sort of catch up. I\u2019m calling it as it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giving up promising cricket and footy careers upon entering his 20s, Schleiger\u2019s home ground advantage quickly became homes themselves \u2014 entrusted to manage large sites by the age of just 23.<\/p>\n

Working as a foreman for two decades years before joining The Block in 2011, the former show regular offered advice to those who may wish to follow in his dusty footsteps.<\/p>\n

\u201cListening is a massive thing, and also to actually take in what you\u2019re doing. When you\u2019re taught something new, you have to concentrate and learn all the methods you need to know, rather than not listening, and just watching the other person do it,\u201d Schleidger said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve really got to tune in with everything and just work as hard as you can. If you don\u2019t listen, you won\u2019t learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

All too comfortable \u201cbarking orders\u201d, the often intimidating figure has taken up a new role that\u2019s a little tongue-in-cheek, and very Foreman Keith.<\/p>\n

\"ForemanCamera IconForeman Keith is still barking orders around work sites. Credit: Golden Gaytime<\/p>\n

Donning the familiar navy blue once more, Schleiger has become Golden Gaytime\u2019s first-ever Foreman of Workplace Hunger.<\/p>\n

The role sees him visit construction sites and offices to ensure workers\u2019 smoko start packs stack up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to actually physically take some some people\u2019s snacks out of their hands, put a Golden Gaytme slab in their hands and satisfy them. And it was a great feeling, and it worked,\u201d he said, very seriously, of course.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former The Block regular Keith Schleiger has called out modern day apprentices for their lack of work ethic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134,995,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-135414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-influencers","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}