The business benefits of apprenticeships

Simply because they makes good business sense. Here are the top 10 business benefits:

• 77% of employers believe apprenticeships make them more competitive;
• 76% say that apprenticeships provide higher overall productivity;
• 80% feel that apprenticeships reduce staff turnover;
• 83% of employers rely on their apprenticeships programme to provide the skilled workers that they need for the future;
• Two-thirds of respondents believe that their apprenticeship programme helps them fill vacancies more quickly, whilst
• 88% believe that apprenticeships lead to a more motivated and satisfied workforce;
• 59% report that training apprentices is more cost-effective than hiring skilled staff, with 59% believing that apprenticeships lead to lower overall training costs and 53% feeling that they reduce recruitment costs;
• In terms of the return on investment linked to apprenticeships, 41% say that their apprentices make a valuable contribution to the business during their training period, while a further third (33%) report that apprentices add value within their first few weeks (or even from Day One);
• 57% report a high proportion of their apprentices going on to management positions within the company;
• Over three-quarters of respondents expect apprenticeships to play a bigger part in their recruitment policy in the future.

Research, conducted in February 2008 by Populus on behalf of the LSC