Bakers and brickies offered $2000 payments

Aspiring bakers and bricklayers are being offered $2000 to take up a trade, as the federal government promises to create an extra 80,000 apprenticeships over five years.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has announced a $525 million budget package aimed at plugging holes in industries with skills shortages.

Employers who take on apprentices in areas of need are being offered incentives worth $8000 per placement, which is double the amount they are currently offered.

New apprentices will also receive $2000 inducements - half of which will be paid after 12 months, and the other half when they finish.

The wide range of occupations covered includes carpenters, plumbers, hairdressers, bricklayers, plasterers, tilers, bakers and pastry cooks.

Stonemasons, arborists, air-conditioning and fridge mechanics, joiners and vehicle painters will also be eligible.

The government is also spending $62 million to boost literacy, numeracy and digital skills among employed and recently-jobless Australian workers.

Ten new training hubs will be established to connect schools and industries with young people in areas of high youth unemployment.

In a federal budget heavily focused on "hard hats and high vis", the government is promising to increase spending on road and rail projects to $100 billion over the next decade.