A team from Edge took the Apprenticeships Work campaign directly to SMEs on 12 November at the Heathrow Business Summit. We shared resources on how to hire an apprentice, including an employer’s guide created for the campaign by Amazing Apprenticeships, as well as information from campaign partners, Youth Futures Foundation, Youth Employment UK, and Association of Apprentices.
In his keynote speech Lord Blunkett, Chair of the Heathrow Local Growth Taskforce, spoke about the need to ensure that local communities benefit from skills development, especially in addressing the number of young people not in education, employment or training which he described as a ‘national scandal’. It was encouraging to see how enthusiastic SMEs were about apprenticeships – some coming back to our stall multiple times to discuss the campaign. SMEs who had already hired apprentices were passionate about the benefits and long-term return on investment they can bring. As one employer put it, ‘If you think training is expensive wait until you see the cost of ignorance’.
While overall, sentiment for apprenticeships was positive amongst SMEs, many still raised valid concerns like:
- Apprenticeship standards don’t always match their business needs.
- Changing workplaces – AI is taking over many entrylevel jobs, while remote working makes it difficult to deliver apprenticeships.
- Outdated views of what apprenticeships are e.g. only for trades, at lower levels, etc.
- Investment in training isn’t as culturally embedded in the UK as it is in some other countries.
Others spoke to us about friends and family interested in apprenticeships but unable to find opportunities (a key focus of our Chaos to Coordination report). We will continue to raise these issues with government through the campaign and Edge’s wider work. A huge thank you to Heathrow Business Summit for inviting us and to our partners for supplying the employer resources. If you know an SME who may be interested in hiring an apprentice, please share our employer resources which includes our comprehensive guide for small businesses, pictured above.