Apprenticeships must help hard-pressed employers maintain a highly-skilled workforce

Semta urges employers to back apprenticeships despite economic downturn

£65 million Train to Gain compact secured by Semta to help employers fund training programmes, including apprenticeships

On the eve of the annual National Apprenticeships Week, Semta - the Sector Skills Council for science, engineering and manufacturing technologies - is supporting employers to take on more apprentices despite the economic downturn.

Last year saw a boom in apprenticeships but early indications are that as the recession bites employers are cutting back on this key skills investment.

Engineering apprenticeship targets, set in response to the Leitch Review, have been exceeded by 12 per cent in the first target year (2007/2008). Apprenticeships and Adult Apprenticeships starts in engineering have reached 14,063, up from 12,580 the year before. And overall, research from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), shows the volume of all apprenticeship starts of 224,800 in 2007/08 was the highest level ever recorded, an increase of 21.9 per cent from 2006/07[i]. However provisional start figures for August to October 2008 (Q1 2008/9) show a 14% decrease in starts for 16-18 apprenticeships.

Employing apprentices delivers significant return on investment for business. According to the Institute for Employment Research at the University of Warwick, the total net cost of taking on an engineering apprentice (£28,762), for example, will get paid back in just under three years. Employers also believe apprenticeships can improve competitiveness and productivity while reducing staff turnover and providing the skilled workers required for the future.

Semta has secured £65 million in funding from the Train to Gain budget to help businesses in England fight skills shortages. The funding is intended to help organisations, in particular small-to-medium sized companies, improve their performance, via a range of skills and training programmes, including apprenticeships.

Speaking on the eve of Apprenticeships Week, Philip Whiteman, Chief Executive of Semta, said: “Skills shortages cost the industry £700 million per year in lost productivity. Apprenticeships in our sector are the best way to secure the right technical skills for the future, and this week is a great opportunity to drive that message home. Businesses in our sector are fighting for survival and yet at the same time need to improve workforce skills. So Semta is working flat out to signpost the right programmes and support funding.

“With apprenticeships growing in numbers and quality, now is not the time to stop. We need to learn from past recessions that when the economy recovers, we must not be left facing a skills crisis because vocational training has been mothballed. With many skilled people coming up for retirement, the engineering sector alone needs 38,000 new employees every year for the next five years to replace these workers and expand capability.”

The second annual Apprenticeships Week will take place from Monday 23 February to Friday 27 February 2009 across England.