The business benefits
Apprenticeships can help businesses across all sectors by offering a route to harness fresh new talent.
UK businesses consider skills shortages and recruitment difficulties a bigger threat to performance than soaring oil prices and declining consumer spending, and more than a quarter of these rate this form of vocational training higher than any other qualification.
Apprenticeships ensure that your workforce has the practical skills and qualifications your organisation needs now and in the future. The mixture of on and off job learning ensures they learn the skills that work best for your business.
Over 130,000 workplace offer apprentice places because they understand the benefits that apprentices bring to their business – increased productivity, improved competitiveness and a committed and competent work-force.
Improve your bottom line
Apprenticeships deliver real returns to your bottom line, with Apprenticeships helping them to improve productivity and to be more competitive. Training apprentices can also be more cost effective than hiring skilled staff, leading to lower overall training and recruitment costs.
Fill your skills gaps
Apprenticeships deliver skills designed around your business needs providing the skilled workers you need for the future. They also help you develop the specialist skills you need to keep pace with the latest technology and working practices in your sector.
Motivate your workforce
Apprentices tend to be eager, motivated, flexible and loyal to the company that invested in them. Remember, an apprentice is with you because they want to be – they have made an active choice to learn on the job and a commitment to a specific career.
What do employers say?
Business leaders from a range of industries and backgrounds across England give their support for Apprenticeships and voice their ambition to help grow the number of places available.
Read what business leaders say about Apprenticeships »
Return on Investment Calculator
The Return on Investment (ROI) calculator has been designed to help you understand the returns you can possibly gain on investing in Apprenticeships.
Drawing on research from the Warwick Institute for Employment Research (‘The Net Benefits to Employer Investment in Apprenticeship Training’ – November 2008) into the costs and benefits of Apprenticeships, the ROI calculator has been made available to help employers make the right decisions.
The ROI calculator estimates the average costs of employing and training an apprentice against the gains that come when their ‘additional productivity’ impacts on the business.
Access the ROI Calculator »
Benefits in numbers
Earlier research, conducted in February 2008 by Populus on behalf of the LSC to launch the first National Apprenticeship Week revealed:
- 77% of employers believe Apprenticeships make them more competitive;
- 76% say that Apprenticeships provide higher overall productivity;
- 80% feel that Apprenticeships reduce staff turnover;
- 83% of employers rely on their Apprenticeships programme to provide the skilled workers that they need for the future;
- Two-thirds of respondents believe that their Apprenticeship programme helps them fill vacancies more quickly, whilst
- 88% believe that Apprenticeships lead to a more motivated and satisfied workforce;
- 59% report that training apprentices is more cost-effective than hiring skilled staff, with 59% believing that Apprenticeships lead to lower overall training costs and 53% feeling that they reduce recruitment costs;
- In terms of the return on investment linked to Apprenticeships, 41% say that their apprentices make a valuable contribution to the business during their training period, while a further third (33%) report that apprentices add value within their first few weeks (or even from Day One);
- 57% report a high proportion of their apprentices going on to management positions within the company;
- Over three-quarters of respondents expect apprenticeships to play a bigger part in their recruitment policy in the future.
Further Research
A study carried out by the University of Warwick Institute for Employment Research (IER) demonstrated that Apprenticeships are an investment by employers and where the investment is nurtured, the returns to the employer are significant.
Based on detailed employer case studies in seven sectors the study was commissioned and scrutinised by the business leaders who form the Apprenticeships Ambassador Network (AAN).
The study showed that the costs of training are quickly recouped upon completion of the Apprenticeships. Other benefits include; retention within the company, understanding of company values, and progression to become managers and supervisors.
Find out more about the IER research »
Public Sector Skills Challenge
It is not just the Private Sector who can benefit from taking on apprentices. Many public sector organisations could be taking advantage Apprenticeships, as a way of unlocking talent within their local communities and ensuring that they have a workforce equipped with the skills it needs for today and tomorrow.
We dispel the myths and provide a whole range of case studies of public sector organisations who have benefited from Apprenticeships.
Find out more about the Public Sector Skills Challenge »
Last Updated: 22/09/2011