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New Zealand's future has been linked to the growth of a 'knowledge economy', specifically the growth, development and integration of scientific and technological advancement in our economy, through both new and existing enterprises. Consequently, New Zealand must address how current and future generations of science, engineering and technology practitioners (at all levels) will have opportunities to develop the requisite skills and knowledge they need to contribute fully to 'knowledge' enterprises. Reflecting on the current industry based engineering training situation in New Zealand, an analysis of the factors contributing to the perceived levels of industry training is presented. In response and with a view to improve the culture of training and learning in New Zealand enterprises, the authors propose moving from the standardised training approaches often associated with unit standards, to adopting a model of 'problem based learning' for workplace training. The implications for educating workplace trainers to deliver workplace training based on this model are also discussed.