Apprenticeship schemes in new sectors are especially fraught and may put apprenticeship 'brand' at risk, new research shows.
The study by Dr Johann Fortwengel and Professor Howard Gospel of King’s Business School with Dr Phillip Toner of the University of Sydney, Australia, highlights the difficulties of expanding apprenticeship numbers, especially in industries with little historical experience of this form of training.
The team also found that successful attempts to renew apprenticeships involved efforts to synchronise government-led and employer-led initiatives, and engaged employer associations, unions and others.
This kind of coordination was more likely to lead to a sustained increase in apprentice starts; simply providing funding and leaving employers and market forces to determine the types and structure of programmes available was less effective.
“Apprenticeships were a theme in the UK election; the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour all talked about investment in apprenticeships,” Professor Howard Gospel, Emeritus Professor of Management, said.
“But expanding the number of apprenticeships and ensuring they are valued by employers is challenging to get right. Our research shows that while both England and Australia have delivered increases in apprentice numbers since the 1990s, that growth faltered when expansion into new industries led to doubts over quality and confusion over what apprenticeships should really deliver.”
Dr Johann Fortwengel, Senior Lecturer in International Management, said these experiences are important lessons for the US, where efforts to increase apprenticeships have so far been proportionally smaller.
“Expansion into new areas has been on the agenda since the Obama administration, but with little real progress to date,” Dr Fortwengel said.
The researchers tracked efforts in England, Australia and the US to revive apprenticeships as a solution to skills shortages, youth unemployment, and broader challenges like rising income inequality.
Historically, these ‘Anglo-Saxon’ economies have lacked effective support for industry-wide apprenticeship training schemes. Also, compared to countries, such as Germany or Switzerland, demand has historically been limited, with a large proportion of young adults choosing the university route over an apprenticeship.
How Australia fared
By comparison with England, Australia grew its number of apprenticeships relatively steadily from 60,000 in 1995 to 377,000 in 2012, with consistent employer and bipartisan political support.
Extension of apprentice-type training to new service sector occupations accounted for over 80% of the increase.
Publicly funded non-profit Group Training Organisations (GTOs), often linked to employer associations and unions played an important part in the growth and were successful in recruiting smaller employers to apprentice schemes, which often lack the financial and staff resources to support their own training program.
However, funding was cut back sharply due to escalating government expenditures and concern at declining quality, prompting a collapse in trainee led by non-trade apprenticeships.
''Support for the traditional apprenticeship model remains strong in Australia in government, and among employers and unions,” Dr Phillip Toner said.
“It continues to be an important institution for young people seeking to enter the labour market and for older people looking for a skilled, better paid job.”
However, Dr Toner said the extension of this model into new occupations, mostly in the service sector such as lower-skilled hospitality, sales, security guards and clerical work has been “largely unsuccessful”.
“Employer support for extending apprenticeships to these roles was only partly founded on real labour market need, and more substantially down to generous government employment subsidies,” he said.
“This fact has been revealed by the sustained collapse in this type of training over the last six years following the cessation of the subsidies.”