What hiring problems can an apprenticeship solve?
An apprenticeship can solve the hiring problem of not finding enough people with the skills a particular role requires, because it lets you develop those people while they work for you. It's best suited to a need that will last several years. An apprentice in a registered program completes at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning or demonstrates the required skills, along with related instruction. Your organization also shapes what apprentices learn, so the skills they build match the way your work is done.
An apprenticeship won't solve an immediate vacancy, because an apprentice is still learning the job. It also won't address the reasons experienced employees leave. If people are leaving because of supervision, scheduling, workload, pay, or limited advancement, new apprentices will work under the same conditions. What is turnover actually costing us? and Why do good employees keep leaving when we pay competitively? can help you find out what is driving departures before you add a program.
What do employers underestimate about running an apprenticeship?
What employers most often underestimate about running an apprenticeship is the time and attention it takes, and most of that falls on the experienced employees who teach. Apprentices are paid employees who do real work under supervision. Someone has to plan what they learn, show them how to do it, check their work, and keep track of their progress. If those employees are already stretched, adding apprentices without adjusting their workload can leave both the mentors and the apprentices without the support the program depends on.
The employer also commits to pay increases as apprentices gain skills and to related instruction alongside the work. A registered program adds records and written standards to meet. What does a registered apprenticeship actually involve? sets out those requirements, which come from federal rules that state apprenticeship agencies may add to.
Which roles are a good fit for an apprenticeship?
The roles that are a good fit for an apprenticeship are skilled occupations that people learn through structured, supervised work on the job, along with classroom or technical instruction. The federal rule for a registered program describes an apprenticeable occupation in those terms. It's recognized throughout an industry and involves building manual, mechanical, or technical skills step by step. Under the industry's standard, it would take at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning to master.
Roles that can be learned in a few weeks, or that depend mainly on a credential a person has to earn before starting, are usually better served by other approaches. If you're unsure whether a role qualifies, the state apprenticeship agency or the Department of Labor's apprenticeship office in your state can tell you.
What can we do if we're not ready for a full apprenticeship?
If you're not ready for a full apprenticeship, you can start with smaller forms of work-based learning that build the relationships and experience an apprenticeship would later need. That might mean hosting interns or offering job shadowing and site visits. It might also mean sending an experienced employee to speak to a class, or telling a local college or training program what your roles require. These steps let you learn how much mentoring your team can sustain and whether the people you meet are interested in the work.
Starting small also lets you find out what support new people need before you commit to a multi-year program. What can an employer actually contribute besides money? describes what education partners value from employers, and How do we start working with a local college or school district on our hiring needs? covers where to begin.
The Grantibly perspective
Lauren's perspective
We have evaluated federally and privately funded programs designed to prepare people for high-demand careers, including programs in advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, technical education, apprenticeships, and other career pathways. That work has given us a close-up view of how people are recruited into career pathways, what helps them persist, where they encounter barriers, and how employers and educators work together.
What we have learned from that view is that workforce development doesn't end when someone gets hired. Getting people through the door is only part of the challenge, and an apprenticeship is no exception. Before an organization invests in a program, it needs to understand the problem it is trying to solve and what it is prepared to change to support the people it brings in.
