With A tight job market and companies struggling to find qualified employees to fill open positions, it’s no surprise that apprenticeships are on the rise.
“Apprenticeships are the hot thing today,” said David Stuart, director of apprenticeships and special Projects for Milwaukee Area
Technical College.
“Look anywhere,” he said. “Everyone’s looking for help right now. It’s an unprecedented labor market. I think employers are hungry to find experienced workers.”
Jeremy Joecks, director of partner services at GPS Education Partners, agreed and noted that GPS had a record student enrollment of 200 last year.
“I think there’s more of an appetite and interest in this,” he said.
Besides the lack of skilled workers available to hire right now, he said an aging workforce and retirement boom has forced businesses to rethink the role of apprenticeships.
And with only 33% of jobs today requiring a four-year college degree, “school districts are beginning to realize the need and have been open to other opportunities,” Joecks said.
No college debt
Apprenticeships also make sense financially, said Steven McNaughton, dean of business and workforce solutions at Gateway Technical College.
“Students can go through an apprenticeship with little or no college debt,” he said, adding that a registered apprentice in Wisconsin could earn in the mid-to-upper $80,000s. “It’s very lucrative.”
Stuart agreed: “Young people are hearing a lot about options to college. It’s an alternative to debt.”
McNaughton, though, stressed other reasons like carrying on a family tradition in the trades.
“Sometimes it’s been the home experience, the family,” he said. “A lot of times it’s, ‘I want to be an electrician.’”
Apprenticeships are essentially an earn-as-you-learn agreement between and employer and employee. Employees work with institutions like MATC, GPS and Gateway to provide classroom instruction as the apprentice acquires on-the-job skills.
Essentially, there are two types of apprenticeships, said Stuart, a youth apprenticeship and a registered apprenticeship.
Explore career options
A youth apprenticeship is typically for a high school student entering their senior year who will take classes at an institution, like MATC, GPS or Gateway, and be placed in employment for a portion of their school day. They not only earn school credit, but are also paid for their time on the job site. It’s a great opportunity for students to explore career options, Stuart said.
Meanwhile, a registered apprenticeship is for adults who want to enter a particular field and are willing to make a contractual agreement to remain in the program, which involves classroom and field work, for a set period of time.
“The registered apprenticeship means that it is recognized by the state (Department of Workforce Development),” said Stuart. “When an individual enters a registered apprenticeship, they’ve entered into a contract agreement with a sponsor – the employer or the union – to serve a certain term.”
That term is for 9,000 hours or no less than five years, he said, but “it goes very fast because you’re working.”
Customized training
At GPS, Joecks said there are seven education centers in the state, where students attend classes. Each center has school district partners, who refer students, and business partners who will ensure they get their work experience.
Most of the apprenticeships are in the manufacturing area, but they also serve the construction and automotive industries, he said.
While MATC, GPS and Gateway deal heavily with construction trades and manufacturing, apprenticeships are picking up steam in other fields as well.
Again, the labor shortage is driving that engine, they said, as employers and businesses seek new avenues to find workers.
“Now we’re even running apprenticeships in the health care pathway as well,” said Stuart.
McNaughton said Gateway is also offering customized training for government agencies such as the Department of Corrections.
“Apprenticeship is asked about more often than it used to be, out of necessity. What’s happened now, because of the lack of employees, businesses are venturing into other ways,” he said.
It’s not just lack of employees, Stuart added. The high turnover rate in some jobs means businesses need a steady stream of workers in the pipeline.
But it’s a boon for the registered apprentice who signs a contract too, said McNaughton.
“Apprenticeships are a really good way to keep and grow employees,” he said. “It’s not you join a company and get a job. You join a company and keep progressing. The employer is investing in you.”
Fun fact
Wisconsin created the first state registered apprenticeship system in 1911, and in 1937, Congress enacted the National Apprenticeship Act.