Employers Still Need to Reap the Benefits Apprentices Offer says College

City College Plymouth is concerned that local employers are still not reaping the benefits of employing an apprentice.

The College’s Work-based Learning department is still low on employers in a number of sectors, with apprentices looking for work in carpentry, bricklaying, tiling, plastering, painting and decorating, gas, hairdressing, customer service, automotive and engineering.

Sue Reed, Programme Area Manager at Work-based Learning said: “We’ve had a considerable amount of success with recruiting employers but I still feel that some employers are not reaping the benefits that apprentices offer.”

She continued: “Apprenticeships ensure that a company’s workforce has the practical skills and qualifications they need for now and in the future. The mixture of on and off job learning ensures they learn the skills that work best for a business.

“As well as representing a great return on investment, many employers may not be aware that in most cases funding is available to help with training costs for apprentices - 100% if the apprentice is 16-18.”

Although, over a 1,000 apprentices in Plymouth successfully completed their qualifications last year, an increase of 48% on 2007/2008 - Sue says: “We need more businesses and organisations in Plymouth to realise that apprentices are key to a highly skilled, highly motivated future workforce. Providing training on the job, particularly when that training is usually funded, just makes good commercial sense.”

If you would like to know more about Apprenticeships and how your company can benefit please call the College’s Work-based Learning department on 01752 2512866.