Richard Kirk

Columnist

Richard Kirk

CEO of Workplus

Time to Catch the Vision for Apprenticeships

With the Department for the Economy’s recent announcement that the £3,000 employer incentive for apprentice recruitment is extended until March 2022, Richard says there is no better time to grow the apprenticeship culture.

It’s no surprise that, at government level, the role of apprenticeships has been recognised as an important factor in our economic – and indeed social – recovery from this pandemic. Apprenticeships operate a unique space and are the purest form of collaboration between government, employer, education provider and apprentice. For the apprentice, it’s a job from the start, mentoring, hands-on experience and continued education. For the employer, it’s about finding talent that can be moulded to support growth.

DfE has been very responsive to business needs, developing a roadmap for all-age apprenticeships, public sector apprenticeships and recently announcing the extension of the Apprenticeship Incentive Scheme. Each of these interventions acknowledge that apprenticeships are vital to our economic recovery and growth.

Addressing the barriers

However, a challenge remains: according to the most recent Employer Skills Survey (2019), only 6% of employers in Northern Ireland employ apprentices. There is no single answer, rather a number of factors and barriers.

Perception is a key one. There still remains a misconception that apprenticeships are confined to the traditional trades, for example, carpentry, construction or hair and beauty. Many employers are unaware of over 200 apprenticeship pathways available at various academic levels. With Higher Level Apprenticeships (HLA), the apprentice graduates with the same degree as a full-time student. Some of our members have shared how they have woken up to apprenticeships in recent years. These are companies which traditionally only employed graduates and are now seeing the benefits of a hybrid approach, with apprentices developing core skills from the outset.

Another challenge is the perceived complexity in employing an apprentice. This was one of the reasons why we started Workplus – to make it easier for employers to find apprentices. We did this by creating a community of employers to share ideas around salaries, mentoring and support, and then clearly articulating those needs to Government and educators.

A further challenge is that most employers here are micro businesses and many rule out apprenticeships because they don’t have the capacity to employ a full-time apprentice. With the UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s inclusion of “flexi-apprenticeships” in his recent budget announcement, I think we are getting closer to addressing this barrier.

Recognising the benefits

DfE’s Apprenticeship Incentive Scheme is an obvious benefit but the reasons why employers hire apprentices go much deeper into their business growth. I read with interest NIE’s Senior HR Business Partner (and former apprentice) Paula Leathem’s excellent article in February’s Ambition magazine. We have been working with NIE since 2019 and have seen at first hand their unwavering commitment to apprenticeships. In Paula’s article, she talked about the role of apprenticeships in the company’s longterm resilience as well as addressing skills gaps.

She also highlighted the high retention of apprentices. Many of my other clients would concur and often speak of the high retention levels of their apprentices. In fact, 95% of Workplus apprentices are still with their employer.

New realities

As we emerge from COVID, we face new realities, both in terms of work and education. It’s clear that some industries and jobs will not survive the effects of the pandemic. How can we offer the hope of employment to those who are still in education, remain on furlough or have already become unemployed? Take a look at many job boards and, more often than not, employers are asking for a degree and two years’ experience for entry level positions – is that really necessary?

In terms of education, young people are thinking differently. They are reconsidering full-time university education and its subsequent student debt. They are finding the apprenticeship option all the more attractive: a job at the start, a debt-free education and learning a whole array of life skills they never could as a full-time student. In February, we received over 1,300 applications for 120 apprenticeship roles, such is the growing appetite for apprenticeships.

Ensuring the employer-led approach

It is vital that our apprentices are employer-led. Ensuring employers are front and centre makes the apprenticeship about meaningful employment, not simply a college or university course. Collaboration is also at the heart of Workplus: we have achieved so much in a relatively short time through bringing employers together, identifying new opportunities and working with education providers to create new pathways.

There is a reason the pandemic has brough apprenticeships to the fore: they present a real solution – both for the employer and the apprentice – in terms of talent and development. Apprenticeships speak of collaboration, of opportunity and a positive future.

Since it was established in 2015, Workplus has helped hundreds of apprentices find their roles in companies across Northern Ireland, from multinational IT and engineering firms to fastgrowing SMEs. For further information, visit www.workplus.app.