Apprenticeships Can Play a Vital Role in Lowering Hiring Risk

An apprenticeship in today’s modern world works to provide an employee with a fair wage and applicable and nationally recognized certification as well as create career advancement opportunities and cultivate an advanced skill-set that meets an employer’s needs and brings in an overall positive return on investment. Registered Apprenticeship, supported in partnership with the Department of Labor, allows organizations to expand their talent sources without lowering their standards for hiring since typical requirements like work experience are actively met on the job.

Although apprenticeship is most seen for skilled trade roles in construction and manufacturing, the apprenticeship model has been modernized to incorporate needed flexibility such as competency-based training, virtual or hybrid instruction, and direct correlation with both industry credentials and academic credit toward college degrees. The model can be customized and used by nearly any industry or company, with similar significant benefits.

“According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics tech occupations are on pace to grow faster than all other fields in the U.S. However, the workforce pipeline is not keeping pace. Industry experts and hiring managers are voicing concern that roles are taking longer to fill and current educational pathways are not sufficiently preparing young professionals for the workplace.”

Steve Milovich and Katie Adams Contributors at BenefotsPRO

With worker shortages continuing to grow across the tech industry as well as in other critical sectors including health care, transportation, hospitality, and utilities are leaving employers with several options endure long-term staffing shortages, lower or adjust hiring standards, or develop some type of in-house apprenticeship or expedited professional development pipeline.

Creating a more organized and structured certification plan in place for critical occupations enables many companies to refine hiring requirements, expand talent sourcing, and create career pathways to increase long-term worker loyalty. Apprenticeships represent the gold standard for workforce training as they equip employers to take a skills-and attitude-based approach to hiring for critical occupations. By adopting industry-recognized training methods that combine both structured on-the-job tasks and related instruction, employers can more confidently reduce hiring risk and broaden their pool of qualified applicants.