UK employers planning to recruit more apprentices, shows survey

Employment prospects for young people in the UK are starting to improve, with employers planning to hire more apprentices and graduates to fill skills gaps, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

The latest edition of the CIPD’s Labour Market Outlook shows that 33% of employers are planning to take on more apprentices, an increase of 11 percentage points since spring 2014.

A further 26% of firms are expecting to hire more university graduates, and 12% more school leavers.

CIPD labor market analyst Gerwyn Davies commented: “After a long, dark decade, the prospects for young people are finally looking brighter. The tightening labour market is undoubtedly encouraging more employers to turn to a wider range of younger recruits. However, it is also due to a recognition among a growing number of employers that they need to develop talent to limit the potential for future labour shortages and pay pressures. The increase in the number of high-quality apprenticeships and the ongoing recruitment pressures faced by employers should mean that the pathway to sustainable employment will be within the reach of more young people.”

IZA World of Labor author Robert Lerman has written about the benefits to firms of investing in apprenticeships. In his article, Lerman writes that: “Apprenticeship training is usually a profitable investment for firms as well as workers. Often, firms can recoup all or most of their costs within the apprenticeship period. By providing firms with information on economic returns, by helping them set up apprenticeships, and by funding off-site training, policymakers can promote the expansion of effective career training and increased worker earnings with only modest public expenditures.”

Coinciding with International Youth Day (12 August), IZA World of Labor editor-in-chief Klaus F. Zimmermann has today published a blog post on LinkedIn about the importance of vocational training for young people. Zimmermann writes: “The evidence from Germany, as an example of a country with highly-successful vocational training schemes, demonstrates the positive effects of apprenticeships on individual businesses, the economy in general, and the future workforce. This should be instrumental in persuading stakeholders from multiple sectors that government-supported apprenticeship systems could be one answer to current and future youth unemployment crises.”

The CIPD Labour Market Outlook: Summer 2015 can be found here.

Related articles:
Do firms benefit from apprenticeship investments? by Robert Lerman
Does vocational training help young people find a (good) job? by Werner Eichhorst

Find more IZA World of Labor articles on vocational education, training skills, and lifelong learning here