- Original Poster
- #1
Reading another topic, I'm becoming a real sceptic about the benefits of apprentice schemes.
Firstly there seem to be very unusual schemes going on that let very basic and non-technical roles become suitable for apprenticeships? Historically, many jobs had a requirement that the person who does the 'real' job has a good background in skills, knowledge and techniques, and to ensure the business is stable and had these skilled workers, you too trainees on at perhaps 16, trained them on the job, ran some classes, and usually had an approved body like a college, add the academic content and manage the testing and certification.
Now we get very small firms taking on apprentices. My own experience of small businesses, being one, is that I do not have the time to train people. Everyone needs to be self-supporting. I do one thing, and everyone else does theirs. No way do I have the time to stop earning money and slow down and have somebody with me, learning from me. One client, out on a job asked me why I constantly showed a new guy what I was doing - I said he was new, and had to learn. The client pointed out he was paying me to do the job, not train somebody else. Good point, I thought.
Most apprentices got their training on the job from the skilled people, and it was accepted that much of what was produced during the training might be rejected by quality control, or not up to spec in some way. Now we seem to have people working in basic level jobs where there is no huge technical skill required or complex brainwork to do - just turn up, work, and then go home. They can now be paid less, and put on a scheme. Not all, but quite a few employers see the entire scheme as access to cheap workers. If you want to be an engineer, or a plumber or electrician, then apprenticeships make sense. If you want to be a clerk in an office, or work in a shop or behind the counter in the Post Office - that's not a role that needs a formal apprenticeship.
It's being abused as far as I can see. What proper training is being provided, and what qualifications do the trainers require, because I bet they don't have them in the majority of cases.
Firstly there seem to be very unusual schemes going on that let very basic and non-technical roles become suitable for apprenticeships? Historically, many jobs had a requirement that the person who does the 'real' job has a good background in skills, knowledge and techniques, and to ensure the business is stable and had these skilled workers, you too trainees on at perhaps 16, trained them on the job, ran some classes, and usually had an approved body like a college, add the academic content and manage the testing and certification.
Now we get very small firms taking on apprentices. My own experience of small businesses, being one, is that I do not have the time to train people. Everyone needs to be self-supporting. I do one thing, and everyone else does theirs. No way do I have the time to stop earning money and slow down and have somebody with me, learning from me. One client, out on a job asked me why I constantly showed a new guy what I was doing - I said he was new, and had to learn. The client pointed out he was paying me to do the job, not train somebody else. Good point, I thought.
Most apprentices got their training on the job from the skilled people, and it was accepted that much of what was produced during the training might be rejected by quality control, or not up to spec in some way. Now we seem to have people working in basic level jobs where there is no huge technical skill required or complex brainwork to do - just turn up, work, and then go home. They can now be paid less, and put on a scheme. Not all, but quite a few employers see the entire scheme as access to cheap workers. If you want to be an engineer, or a plumber or electrician, then apprenticeships make sense. If you want to be a clerk in an office, or work in a shop or behind the counter in the Post Office - that's not a role that needs a formal apprenticeship.
It's being abused as far as I can see. What proper training is being provided, and what qualifications do the trainers require, because I bet they don't have them in the majority of cases.
