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If apprenticeship programs operated like the NBC show “The Apprentice,” it would be easy to understand why job seekers and employers aren’t clamoring for more apprenticeships. Fortunately, the show and the real-life workforce development approach are as different as night and day. While the TV show does require hard work, it also includes drama, backstabbing and shouting. Actual apprenticeships, on the other hand, are exactly what America needs more of.
A multitude of reasons — historic, structural and ingrained — have converged to create traditional ideas about apprenticeships in the US, which vary from those in Canada and Western Europe. England, with only a sixth of America’s population, has approximately five times the number of new registered apprentices each year. Even Canada, with approximately 10 percent of the population of the US, has more apprentices than in the States. In my discussions with key corporate, union, government and workforce leaders across the US, it is clear we are now experiencing a deliberate and thoughtful pivot towards apprenticeships. To that end, the Obama administration’s recent announcement of the $100 million American Apprenticeships Grant Competition is an important and symbolic step forward.
At present, I see three primary barriers related to apprenticeship in America. The first is financial. The US government is currently spending an average of $718 per apprentice, with the balance covered by employers, unions and industry groups. In contrast, Canadian apprenticeship is paid for largely by provincial governments and the public funds used can top 10 to 50 times this amount. The increased public investment is certainly a big part of the difference in apprenticeship adoption, but not all. While I am not advocating a shift to Canadian or European-style apprenticeship investment for the US, extra money always helps. That said, the historic lack of uptake in apprenticeships in the US is not only about money.
The second barrier is the limited viewpoint most Americans have about what jobs or industries are suitable for apprenticeship. The good news is that this simply requires a change in perspective. While apprenticeships are possible for many career areas, in the US the focus appears to be overwhelmingly on trades. Unfortunately, apprenticeships have become wrapped up in the ideological positions for or against organized labor. While organized labor has played a key role in apprenticeships through their use in qualifying for construction jobs, apprenticeships work well in both unionized and non-unionized careers and industries. In fact, the potential careers that can benefit from apprenticeships extend far beyond traditional building trades. Possible non-traditional areas include careers such as medical transcription, manufacturing, hospitality, IT support and even receptionist work.
Apprenticeship also suffers from inadequate technology investment – the third barrier. The lack of effective technology to implement, manage and streamline apprenticeship programs, in fact, is what drew me to this arena several years ago. Like so much in workforce development, simple but highly impactful technical solutions are waiting to be created. Momentum is perhaps the most valuable (and most lacking) commodity in the world of apprenticeships, and technology can play a role in creating it.
With an aging workforce, a slow economic recovery and many other workforce issues to contend with, some may be asking, “Why apprenticeships?” No doubt we have all read and heard about the skills gap and the different ways to address it. Here is where apprenticeships shine. They are a perfect remedy for the skills gap by their very nature. By design, there are fewer skills gaps in careers that use apprenticeships, because the jobs are already there, waiting for people and apprenticeship programs specifically target the skills that people need to perform well in those available jobs. Hence, there should be very little mismatch between job seekers and employers. Apprenticeships are “perfect skills gap busters.”
Of course, apprenticeship isn’t a flaw-free answer to workforce development. Apprenticeships require program set-up logistics, as well as more investments of time, money and energy on the part of sponsors. Some careers that employ the apprenticeship model suffer from low graduation rates. None of these problems are insurmountable and none of them should prevent organizations from considering this approach. That’s because research consistently shows that apprenticeships work. They provide specific, needed training, which leads to employability for actual jobs that need to be filled. They engender employee loyalty and increase productivity.
We are seeing innovative solutions throughout the US to help overcome the difficulties of expanding the apprenticeship model. Now that the Obama administration has provided 100 million incentives, more organizations are sure to start embracing the possibilities that apprenticeships offer. Donald Trump, eat your heart out.
Emad Rizkalla is founder and CEO of Bluedrop Performance Learning.
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