What Is The Difference Between A Registered Apprenticeship And A Traditional Apprenticeship

Technologies such as automation and bogus intelligence are influencing jobs and workflows beyond every major industry. However, businesses that want to deploy them are constrained past their capacity to go along employee skills up to date and recruit talent familiar with both the new engineering and their industry.

Employers volition inevitably demand to rethink their talent recruitment and staff development strategies. A way to do this is through apprenticeship programs, which enable employers to play a more active role in shaping the talent they demand while also building a culture of ongoing learning and innovation.

Apprenticeships provide long-term paid piece of work-based learning opportunities and structured educational curricula that ensure the learner gains education and hands-on feel in an occupation, like to how we train medical doctors with a mix of classes and residency experience. Registered apprenticeships are those that are formally approved by either the Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship or a state's apprenticeship agency. Registration ensures the apprenticeship meets certain criteria to protect apprentices (such as a wage progression) and to maintain quality. Some youth and adult apprenticeship pilots offering high-quality structured education and work feel merely are non registered. Short-term work-based learning programs such as internships or staff development programs are not apprenticeships.

An apprenticeship system, rather than a ane-off program, offers employers the ability to host apprentices while not having to carry the full costs of starting and maintaining the program themselves. Historically, in the U.Southward. building trades, labor unions have provided most of the funding, analogous, and support functions. Other industries often rely on community colleges, workforce development boards, industry associations, private amateur staffing firms, or community-based organizations.

Given the immense costs of higher education in the U.S. and underproduction of science and engineering science graduates, relying on college degrees lone for tech-savvy talent not only excludes most Americans, only information technology is also not plenty to prepare organizations for the future of piece of work. Low diversity among science and engineering college graduates also stunts the power of employers to boost innovation and produce stronger financial results. While Black and Latino or Hispanic people make up xxx% of adults, they brand upward only seven% to 8% of people working in computing and mathematical occupations. Employers' overreliance on college degrees as a proxy for skill in hiring reproduces this racial and economical exclusion, while employers pay a premium to compete in an artificially small labor pool because they cannot hands identify quality talent among candidates without a degree. This is doubly inefficient because diverse teams offering businesses the capacity to reach new markets for products and services.

Modern apprenticeships offer a talent development approach that onboards more than diverse talent as well equally internal infrastructure to create a learning civilization. Nonetheless, employer buy-in and awareness are major barriers to expanding and modernizing apprenticeships outside trades such equally construction or electricians. These barriers are based, in part, on misconceptions or outdated understandings about what apprenticeships are.

This slice presents questions that employers who are new to apprenticeships ofttimes ask, and draws on available evidence to answer them. The goal is to build a more grounded agreement of the business case for apprenticeships by sharing resource and evidence.

What is the departure between an internship and an apprenticeship?

An intern at a winery may make clean upwards afterward wine tastings, but an apprentice in viticulture spends years working under the wings of a primary winemaker. Internships are short-term, while apprenticeships often last for several years. During the training menses, apprentices follow a structured training plan that allows them to master occupational skills in the context of an employer's organization and spend several hours a week learning general and theoretical content in the classroom.

Internships are unremarkably unstructured and emphasize entry-level work, while apprentices work closely with a mentor to improve their skills and, in registered apprenticeships, they earn a higher wage as they advance. Interns rarely experience close work with a committed mentor and may or may not be compensated for their work. Finally, apprenticeships earn an industry-recognized credential upon completion of the programme and often convert into a regular employee; internships rarely lead to any formal certifications and are less geared toward conversion.

How long is a typical apprenticeship?

Programme length varies by occupation, employer sponsor, and apprenticeship model. While many apprenticeships require apprentices to complete a minimum of 2,000 work hours, others (such equally electricians) crave upwardly of 12,000 hours. Registered apprenticeships can be based on competencies rather than recorded hours (or a hybrid of hours and competencies). Competency frameworks let apprentices to complete their programs on a variable footing as they demonstrate mastery. Almost apprentices complete their programs within one to half dozen years.

What is the return on investment for apprenticeships?

Evidence suggests that returns on investment for employers vary greatly, only are generally positive. Several variables shape the costs and benefits of apprenticeships, such every bit industry and occupation, market place for apprentices, and institutional and regulatory frameworks. Apprenticeships are not a solution for all employees or roles inside an organization, but many firms observe them valuable. Employers should view apprenticeships as a capital letter investment to business relationship for both curt- and long-run costs and benefits, likewise equally indirect costs and benefits.

The nearly significant direct cost is apprentice wages. Other costs include developing curricula or materials for training, the mentor'southward time, and equipment suitable for early on-phase training. Although poaching is a common concern amid employers, studies suggest that it is not a major concern or cost among employers in practise as long as they earn back their training costs during the preparation menses, retain plenty apprentices, or save sufficiently on hiring costs overall. Grant-based assistance or public subsidies can help with startup costs, especially in registering the program or joining an existing program.

The direct benefits to employers are savings on overtime expenses, increased revenue and productivity, and lower recruitment costs.

The duration of the training period affects employers' return on investment. An employer can look to see a return on investment considering apprentices engage in productive activity along with training. Often, equally shown in the below diagram adapted from Lerman, a longer training catamenia frame increases render on investment for the employer.

Apprenticeships — Graphic originally from https://wol.iza.org/articles/do-firms-benefit-from-apprenticeship-investments/long. Source: Gambin, 50., Hasluck, C., Hogarth, T. "Recouping the costs of apprenticeship training: Employer instance report evidence from England" Empirical Research in Vocational Educational activity and Training ii:2 (2010): 127–146.

Reducing the training period to minimize costs limits an employer'due south ability to compensate those costs considering the greatest costs and everyman benefits tend to be in the kickoff year. The optimal duration balances a reasonable likelihood of return for the employer within the training menses while protecting the apprentice from existence stuck with a lower wage well past the time when they are performing at the level of an experienced worker.

How can employers optimize return on investment?

Employers should consider these tradeoffs that shape return on investment for apprenticeships:

The mix of activities the apprentice does and the duration of the training catamenia. The share of time spent in the on-the-chore component doing firm-specific and productive activities increases benefits to employers in the short run. However, firms can too benefit from investing in more general skill training if that learning leads to greater productivity increases over time.
The pay structure and credentialing. Apprentice wages are the largest direct cost, but that doesn't necessarily hateful that minimizing wages is the optimal pick. An employer can go beyond the minimum if the goal is to attract more competitive apprenticeship candidates. Apprenticeships with lower pay scales can remain attractive for quality talent (especially young adults) when the apprenticeship results in a nationally recognized credential or degree that allows the apprentice to demonstrate their qualifications in the labor market. Regulations for registered apprenticeships are flexible but do require wage progression and credentialing.
The criteria for selecting apprentices and depth of apprentice preparation and mentorship. Employers tin recruit apprentices at a higher level of skill and experience to reduce the costs of longer-term mentoring during the apprenticeship period. But doing so could reduce the return on investment, because those candidates have higher-wage alternatives on the labor market. Such a strategy also works confronting inclusion and disinterestedness goals for investing in underrepresented talent and associated acquirement gains. Furthermore, it could restrict the size of the talent pool in means that require costs to establish a stable source of apprenticeship candidates.

Apprenticeships are intended to be a acquire-by-doing equivalent to higher, and therefore should be designed equally a quality higher didactics feel—the type of program that the employer would want to recruit midlevel professionals from. In the long-run, an apprenticeship program that balances the needs of the employer, the apprentice, and existing employees tin can more than reliably benefit the house.

What are the indirect costs and benefits of apprenticeships?

Employers should consider indirect factors when creating an apprenticeship. Indirect costs include overhead, human being resources chapters, "cherry record" for registering an apprenticeship, fulfilling compliance responsibilities, and certifying trainers. Intermediaries offer assist to employers to assistance reduce these costs. Registration processes that incorporate user-centered design for easy navigation and electronic or automated reporting tin can reduce those costs for employers and also provide transparency for apprentices to understand their progress.

Employers as well report indirect benefits: increased innovation, improved morale from mentoring junior staff, lower turnover, less demand for supervision, lower error rates, an pick to hire talent with company-specific cognition, opportunities to develop future managers, and the ability to increase the size of the labor pool.

How can minor and medium-sized businesses enjoy the benefits of apprenticeships?

Smaller businesses often struggle to launch an apprenticeship program considering of limited overhead and human resources capacity. Apprenticeship programs are least expensive when they involve working with partners, rather than bearing all of the costs internally within the firm. Small and medium-sized companies accept several options for toll sharing.

First, small businesses can participate in an existing industry partnership or form new partnerships with the goal of sharing costs for program design, equipment, outreach, etc. Beneath are some examples of manufacture-led consortia and partnerships involving modest businesses.

The Northward Carolina Triangle Apprenticeship Program (NCTAP) aims to develop technology and engineering talent in the Enquiry Triangle area through a iv-twelvemonth programme starting in the 11th grade.
CareerWise Colorado works with educators and employers in vii industries to create and operate modern youth apprenticeships. The model is expanding to New York Metropolis, Washington, D.C., and Elkhart County, Ind.
The Chicago Apprenticeship Network, founded by Aon, Accenture, and Zurich North America, has now expanded to include upward of forty companies across diverse industries, likewise equally several education and nonprofit partners.

The National Skills Coalition has a written report with additional examples of industry-driven partnerships for work-based learning, and an Urban Institute report has examples of apprenticeship consortia.

A 2d option is using intermediaries that work with employers to take on activities such as training employees, providing assistance with the registration process, designing the programme, or recruiting suitable candidates. The intermediaries available for this back up vary by region and industry.

Finally, to qualify as a registered apprenticeship, the program must involve some corporeality of classroom training (related instruction). Partnering with publicly subsidized didactics related to the occupation (especially early on in the apprenticeship) tin likewise reduce employer training costs.

How tin can apprenticeships ameliorate variety and inclusion in an organization?

Registered apprenticeships are uniquely positioned to build the skills of low-income workers and motility them into high-quality jobs. Unlike a traditional higher education, apprenticeships emphasize learning past doing and requite workers the opportunity to earn a wage while learning. With an enabling policy framework, apprenticeships tin offering a paid path to a caste, rather than a separate path away from a caste, counteracting the historical legacy of racialized tracking in the U.S. These features make registered apprenticeships highly-seasoned for individuals with family obligations, those who cannot take on large debts, or those who cannot give up working to go to college. Given the extent of occupational segregation in the U.S. labor market, these programs expand opportunities for low-income, female person, Black, Latino or Hispanic, and Native American workers to access quality jobs.

Currently, notwithstanding, registered apprenticeships in the trades have very express gender diversity, mirroring the demographic limerick of their respective industries. In 2019, 88% of new apprentices entering into federally registered programs were male person. Amidst college-paid scientific discipline and technology apprentices between 2000 and 2016, 70% were white—highlighting the need for racial inclusion in high-wage occupations such as software engineering. Companies should take active steps to expand access to registered apprenticeships for women, people of color, people with disabilities, returning citizens, veterans, and members of other underrepresented groups, because diverse leadership and teams better bottom-line results and lead to other benefits, such as greater innovation.

Diverseness, equity, and inclusion are non automatic outcomes of apprenticeships—they must exist intentionally designed to be inclusive. Employers should first plant programme components and metrics for increasing diversity and inclusion within their hiring and management procedure, setting goals and regularly evaluating progress. To accomplish these goals, program sponsors could assistance apprentices learn employability skills early in their careers. They can mitigate unconscious bias in hiring practices, recruit from more than diverse sources of talent, establish peer support networks, train squad leaders on managing diverse teams, and encourage current employees to pursue apprenticeship opportunities.

Employers should call back carefully about their selection criteria for apprentices. Entry-level criteria are the easiest to source talent for, while requiring a higher qualification level will necessitate more focus on recruitment and retentiveness and risks undermining inclusion and multifariousness goals. In general, apprentice selection criteria place less emphasis on existing technical skills than a regular hire, but exam for traits such equally adaptability, willingness to learn, the ability to demonstrate how they arroyo solving a trouble, and teamwork. Rethinking the hiring processes to exist more than inclusive is a critical step.

Direct entry is also an option, including partnering with a pre-apprenticeship program that reflects the employer'south preferences. Pre-apprenticeships can support employers in their efforts to accomplish a wider puddle of apprenticeship candidates. Community-based organizations that operate pre-apprenticeships often have a rich understanding of the needs of the people in their community, then they are well positioned to provide culturally appropriate preparation, accommodations, referrals, or rubber spaces to raise and accost challenges. Apprenticeship.gov has a pre-apprenticeship program search characteristic.

Finally, to ensure lasting success, employers should ensure that wages and management practices are equitable, apprentices feel welcome and supported, and those who are hired equally regular employees afterwards the apprenticeship have equitable pay and advocacy opportunities compared to employees recruited through traditional methods.

What will the National Apprenticeship Act of 2021 do for employers?

On February 5, the U.South. House of Representatives passed the National Apprenticeship Act of 2021, and it will before long proceed to the Senate. The bill would more than double grant funding for intermediaries while increasing state and federal capacity to update, aggrandize, and scale registered apprenticeships. This would help make the registration procedure more accessible and relevant to employers in a wider range of industries and occupations. The neb also has provisions for raising sensation and increasing access for underrepresented groups, which tin assist employers find various sources of talent. This fact sheet has more details.

What are some other resources on apprenticeships?

The Department of Labor'due south website has many resources for employers interested in learning more well-nigh apprenticeships and identifying partners. The Chicago Apprenticeship Network also has a playbook that outlines the process of starting an apprenticeship program and factors to consider.

The Urban Constitute collaborated with the Department of Labor to create a resource that outlines competency-based frameworks for occupations across seven industries: avant-garde manufacturing, energy, finance, health care, hospitality, data engineering science, and transportation. These frameworks may exist helpful for employers to design a structured learning program and negotiate with education partners about which aspects of learning volition exist taught by whom. With funding from the Department of Labor, the Urban Institute offers free technical help in starting apprenticeships, every bit do other contractors.

Success also depends on designing a process for regularly assessing apprentices' operation, measuring costs and benefits, and gathering ongoing feedback from apprentices. The Chicago Apprenticeship Network'south playbook recommends several metrics. Report cards, such as this Connecticut progress report, are common and require the apprentice to enter the number of hours worked on a specific task. Under this system, the mentor checks this report monthly and grades apprentices on their progress.

Apprenticeships can spark a cultural shift amidst employers

As with any organizational change, employers seeking to suit their talent development strategy for the current economy and become more than inclusive in their hiring and direction practices should arroyo apprenticeships equally a cultural shift beyond several dimensions:

From charity to talent investment: Rather than a corporate social responsibility endeavor, variety and inclusion initiatives and apprenticeship programs are talent investment efforts with benefits for businesses, apprentices, and incumbent workers.

From consuming to co-producing talent: By playing a larger role in talent tillage, employers can change how they engage with higher pedagogy, from a transactional arroyo to an ongoing collaboration that builds a pipeline of talent with a combination of visitor-specific and more general skills that can have many long-term benefits for the house.

From risk to nugget: By investing in young adults and workers that a traditional hiring and recruitment process might otherwise overlook, employers can cultivate homegrown talent that is molded past the employer'southward organizational values, create a culture of learning and mentorship, and develop future managers.

We need more than research and measurement of the nation'southward modern apprenticeship programs. There is also room for companies in dissimilar sectors to go along to introduce in guild to identify the optimal remainder of grooming, learning, and productive work in their organization and marshal it with the arrangement's core goals. If Congress passes legislation to expand apprenticeships, at that place will exist more opportunities to learn from and scale what works to brand them an integral function of our didactics and preparation system.

Resources for more than information

U.S. Department of Labor's apprenticeship website

A Quick-Kickoff Toolkit for Building Registered Apprenticeship Programs

The Urban Institute's competency-based frameworks for apprenticeships

Chicago Apprenticeship Network playbook

New America'southward Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship resource guide

Jobs for the Time to come's Heart for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning

Congressional Research Service's FAQ on Registered Apprenticeship

Apprenti's FAQ for employers (targeting the technology sector)

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr. Robert Lerman, Alan Berube, Dr. Katherine Caves, Kirsten Lundgren, Annie Tahtinen, Kristin Wolff, Tracy Hadden Loh, and Dr. Richard Reeves for helpful feedback and suggestions.