Does Apprenticeship Training Help Build a Powerful Workforce?

You must have wondered all of your life whether everything that you have invested in yourself has made you capable of facing the corporate world or is there still a void that needs to be filled? A lot of people just like you have asked the same question. Well, the truth is that the youth is still not empowered enough to handle the on-job tasks skillfully. There has been a wide skill gap noticed after completion of education that states the need and urgency of apprenticeship training.

Employers say that qualified apprentices are 15% more employable than those with other qualifications.

This is not a random figure thrown at you, these are facts depicting the ground reality of our nation. In 2020, the rate of youth unemployment has increased to 23.75 percent which has made youth employment a scarce reality. For the past decade, youth employment has been under a huge crisis as it is constantly hovering around 22 percent in the country!

Every year, several researchers report that 75 percent of 15 million youth entering the job market are not trained adequately which eventually leads to massive unemployment. This limits their chances of a better future because they do not possess the skills required for an on-site job.

This crisis has not been resolved with newer reforms ever since COVID-19, many workers have lost their jobs and most of them are nearly caught in the claws of poverty. In such a situation, any candidate with the skill is what the companies would want to invest in through a manpower supply company.

In India, the workforce under the age of 15-24 is unemployed. But they are also actively seeking jobs without the skills that are required for them to be hired. It is important to understand why employers are adopting apprenticeship training programs for their employees. Many academic institutions and organizations have started to provide these programs right after their graduation or higher level of education.

The reason why organizations have opted for providing apprenticeship programs is very simple to understand. To put it in simpler terms, about 80% of employers report that apprenticeships reduce staff turnover. Whereas, 77% of employers believe apprenticeships make them much more competitive than the rest, thus, making them stand out.

You must have come across the benefits of apprenticeship through manpower providers but here are some of the most unique facts about apprenticeship that you must know:

Unique Facts about Apprenticeship Training:

1. Apprenticeship Training was prevalent back in the days of Antiquity

In 1921, a professor at the University of Chicago stated that the common notion that apprenticeship began as early as the medieval period and the era of Plato. He postulated that the roots of apprenticeship extend even farther back, as indicated by apprenticeship’s mention in the Code of Hammurabi.

Another study found that the research on apprenticeship training dates back to several years as it also indicated the Code of Hammurabi mentioned apprenticeship. It has been a part of our culture and history and yet at some point, we forgot the most important aspect of skill development training and learning. This only states the need for apprenticeship and the fact that apprenticeship training is here to stay and will stay in the future.

2. The traditional approach of Apprenticeship Training includes Character Training

Paul Douglas, while chronicling the history of American apprenticeship, had reported that trainers of apprenticeship programs were subject matter experts and upstanding coaches who instructed their charges in personality development as well as skillful craft. Reiterating the point in his own words, he said, "Another function of apprenticeship is the development of character and good citizenship. Originally it was a preparation for life, not a preparation for technical pursuits alone."

3. Apprenticeship Leaves Students with Minimal Debt

"Apprenticeship is the other college, except without the debt." This is said to be true for all the countries largely because all the apprenticeship training programs whether at an academic level or corporate level are all paid for the duration of their education and training tenure.

5. Apprenticeship Training goes way beyond low paying or blue-collar Jobs

This is one of the leading misconceptions that people tend to have about apprenticeship training! This mindset has been nurtured due to false perceptions claiming that these programs are only for skilled labor professions. However, Paul Douglas states that all professions were once learned through an apprenticeship which even includes law and medicine! He further extended his belief that "apprenticeship is a process of learning by doing. It is a higher form of the trial-and-error process, containing a large amount of imitative motion. As such, it quite naturally antedates all theoretical instruction."

One such organization that addresses the issues of unemployment is YOMA Multinational. YOMA ensures that the youth is empowered and well-equipped with the technical expertise that is required to excel in a particular domain of the working industry. YOMA encourages several schemes such as NAPS and other apprenticeship programs such as ‘SKILL INDIA’, National Skill Development Corporation, Retailers association’s skill council, etc.

Wrapping up with just a tagline: Learn the required skills and become unbeatable!