The schemes that have been highlighted in the press over the last six months are a good start. However, in our experience the actual schemes are not in place and it has been a massive burden on our small company to try to get an apprentice scheme even remotely set up. Help from NECC is not fully in place. The whole system needs co-ordinating much better.
It is wrong to shout about these things for political points and not have the back up.
What’s the value of apprenticeships?
Last week was National Apprenticeship Week, through which the Government attempted to promote the benefits of apprenticeships to both young people, and employers.
There has been much debate around how apprenticeships are regarded, and how employers can be incentivised to take on apprentices.
What do you think about apprenticeships: are they a remedy for regional skills shortages?
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Interesting to hear David. Some of the rhetoric from Cable et al, seems to be quite tokenistic. For instance, the offer of £1500 for firms of under 50 employees; do you think this is really incentive?
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Employers cannot employ apprentices if they don’t have work.
We have employed and trained award winning apprentices for 30 years with little or no funding. The fact is that employing apprentices is a cost to the business. Once trained, there is no guarantee that they will stay with you (even if you have work for them). They can go off to employers that haven’t invested in training thus saving their costs.
£1500 is a drop in the ocean. If the government stimulates business, we’ll train the apprentices into tradesmen that are the lifeblood of our operation.
