UK: Only 2% of Young People take Apprenticeships, says OECD - Polidicks

[IMG]https://www.tes.com/sites/default/files/styles/news_article_hero/public/news_article_images/app3_2.jpg?itok=7Go6ODH7[/IMG] [QUOTE]Levels of low literacy and numeracy found among young adults in the UK were among the worst in Europe, says the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The proportion of young people who are engaged in apprenticeships in the UK is less than a seventh of that in Germany, according to a new international report. The [URL="http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/society-at-a-glance-2016_9789264261488-en"]Society at a Glance 2016 report[/URL] by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), published this morning, also reveals that, out of the 22 countries it compares, only two reported higher levels of low literacy and numeracy than the UK. Apprenticeships, the report says, are a “useful way of bridging the gap between school and employment for youth”, particularly those with lower education levels. However, it says that the apprenticeship participation rate in the UK is less than 2 per cent, compared to over 9 per cent in Denmark and 15 per cent in Germany.[/QUOTE] Sources: [URL="http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/society-at-a-glance-2016_9789264261488-en"]OECD Library[/URL] [URL="https://www.trainingjournal.com/articles/news/only-2-young-people-uk-take-apprenticeships-says-oecd"]The Training Journal[/URL] [URL="https://www.tes.com/news/further-education/breaking-news/only-two-cent-young-people-uk-take-apprenticeships-says-oecd"]TES[/URL]

So we know the UK has no need for experts anymore. It apparently doesn't need apprentices either. What's between an apprentice and an expert? Let's start training those, obviously that is what the population wants.

Maybe the trades are just less appealing to British youth? I know they were less appealing to me when I was a teenager, but I'm thinking now after doing nothing for quite literally half a year after getting out of university, maybe it would have been smart to do an apprenticeship. The thing to do would probably be to show there's more to the trades than construction, welding, being a mechanic, etc. because that stuff was all that was shown to me as a teenager when people tried to convince us to go into trades, and none of that stuff was very appealing to me.

I tried going for one before going back into education, many of them are ran by scummy people just looking to pay people below the minimum wage, good apprenticeships with good training are rare as fuck here.

The main issue would be that a lot of the so called apprenticeships are just regular jobs that have been branded as apprenticeships so that they can pay significantly less. Yes there are proper apprenticeships, but many of them are just an excuse to pay workers next to nothing.

A lot of the so-called apprenticeships offered are hilarious excuses for cheap labour. Maybe their perceived credibility has taken a hit as a result...

All of the above is exactly true, finding a decent apprenticeship is tedious because it's hit and miss if you just get shafted doing a menial tedious task that teaches you nothing and not even a trade and you're doing 40 hour weeks for 1/3rd of the pay you should be getting for the work you do.

[QUOTE=Terminutter;51171283]The main issue would be that a lot of the so called apprenticeships are just regular jobs that have been branded as apprenticeships so that they can pay significantly less. Yes there are proper apprenticeships, but many of them are just an excuse to pay workers next to nothing.[/QUOTE] Aren't there many instances of businesses just having a rolling stock of apprentices coming and going without being offered permanent positions simply because it is much cheaper to work them hard then kick them out for another cheap source of labour. Or am I confusing it with jobseekers/temp work?

[QUOTE=Fetret;51171306]Aren't there many instances of businesses just having a rolling stock of apprentices coming and going without being offered permanent positions simply because it is much cheaper to work them hard then kick them out for another cheap source of labour. Or am I confusing it with jobseekers/temp work?[/QUOTE] That happens in both apprenticeships and jobseeker/temp work. Problem isn't so much the youth participation as the scummy as fuck employment practices here in the UK.

There are good apprenticeships but a lot of them are either abused as cheap labour or they expect interviewees to have experience which in any case is bullshit as the point of an apprenticeship is to obtain the necessary experience. I'm on one ATM and whilst it's mostly good it can be a mixed bag. There's a guy at my workplace who's on one too but they've basically kept him stuck on the service desk taking calls for months.

Basically from what I hear most apprenticeships are just normal jobs where the managers are looking for workers they can pay less than regular workers. My cousin has one that's both really decent and also pays well, but I'm pretty sure they're few and far between, hence the 2% number.

[QUOTE=Fetret;51171306]Aren't there many instances of businesses just having a rolling stock of apprentices coming and going without being offered permanent positions simply because it is much cheaper to work them hard then kick them out for another cheap source of labour. Or am I confusing it with jobseekers/temp work?[/QUOTE] Its both of them. Why pay new workers when you can either get jobcentre to force someone to do a "trial period" or "work experience" for next to nothing, or offer an "apprenticeship" in "restaurant operation" that is basically just dish washing for less than min wage. Or just hire younger people who have a lower minimum wage because apparently those who are younger need money less.

That's what happens when the system is abused to get below minimum wage labour, or even get down right free labour in the name of 'Education'

I mean I'm doing an apprenticeship but as part of it I'm going to college as well so I get experience out of it and a qualification and the money is good enough for me so it's not all bad

I just love how all of the ads focus on "You are not just an apprentice you are a part of the team". Well then, why are they not being paid the same as a team member?

I'm a plumbers apprentice in the US, I make a ridiculous amount of money for what I do.

Let's not forget that the British youth isn't interested in acquiring a trade.

[QUOTE=Terminutter;51171283]The main issue would be that a lot of the so-called apprenticeships are just regular jobs that have been branded as apprenticeships so that they can pay significantly less. Yes, there are proper apprenticeships, but many of them are just an excuse to pay workers next to nothing.[/QUOTE] This. I've looked into apprenticeships in the past as one of the UK's biggest hurdles for people coming out of school is getting a job with no experience. I got an apprenticeship in a photography studio for a while in a design position, and while I wasn't getting shit pay the pay was unreliable. (I'd get paid on major task completion basis, and these tasks weren't always readily available for me, so a lot of my "working time" went into me working for free cleaning and other small tasks like cropping 100's of photos. I wasn't learning anything.) They're tough to find (in Northern Ireland at least) and when they are available they usually offer a significant drop in wages. This is fine if you're in circumstances where you can live off your parents or something, but if you need to pay for your own living during it then it's a personal risk.

Maybe if apprenticeships were not abused for cheap 1 year labor because that's all they can keep an apprentice on before they have to pay national minimal wage and also having no viable outcome from it in either experience or education, people might be interested, because although I went and did one, the ones I've seen since where nowhere near as good as what I got at the post office, the pay was shit and it was for just one year but I walked away from it with 5 customer service qualifications and a level 2 NVQ, everything else I've seen offered in this area is blatantly just "we need you to work for us for experience", there's no good side to it, there's no qualification at the end that means anything. Plus Job Centres have stopped pushing people onto them in the last 3 years which really says something. Oh and just to add, while I did enjoy my apprenticeship and the franchised office respected me, the post office themselves didn't and after a certain incident that revolved around having a gun shoved in my face, they refused to give me any compensation related to acute stress reaction because in the words they put it "they're an apprentice and don't qualify under sick pay requirements" so they just gave me all the earnings I would get for taking holidays then dumped me, they had another apprentice in before I'd even finished my 1 year and that's only because the head office told them to.

[QUOTE=Stopper;51171496]Let's not forget that the British youth isn't interested in acquiring a trade.[/QUOTE] A portion of it, sure. Let's not forget there is plenty of the British youth working their ass off to get noticed in the industry.

I'm not an apprentice, but several of my friends became apprentices in varying trades when they left high school. Most of them had shit experiences, so I'm not surprised that people don't want to become apprentices.

Plus, there's a lot of stigma about apprenticeships being what "dumb" people go into. That attitude turns people right off apprenticeships as they think people will believe they are stupid and not very capable because they took an apprenticeship rather than going to college.

Not surprised really. My girlfriend was doing bar work as part of an "apprenticeship"- Opening the bar, running the bar, working in the cellar, cleaning, closing the bar, managing the entire pub if the owners felt like going on holiday, £2 an hour, one day off a week. This was through the whole htp agency thing, so we were pretty sure it was legitimate. Nope, the guy from the agency rarely ever showed up to do her paperwork, but she was promised a full time job afterwards so she stayed on for almost two years. She was fired on the spot the day they were required to pay her a full wage, and two more "apprentices" were taken on instead.

I took an apprenticeship a while ago cause I was out of work for a long time. I'm still working at the same place now but obviously only on minimum wage and I overheard the 2 guys I work for discussing the wage £7.20 wage increase or w/e and saying that the government shouldn't of done it. I mean really... how the fuck are we young'uns suppose to get anywhere in life when people don't even want to fucking pay us for our work. Only reason I'm still there now is because its literally 5 minutes away from where I live and I also have free reign on what I can do, so I'm just building a portfolio so I can jump ship at a later date.

Perhaps they should try and add more of an incentive for doing an apprenticeship, like increasing the shockingly low starting wage for instance.

I've seen apprecticeships advertised by coffee shops to become a barista. What kind of career propect is that? "Oh don't worry you're only being paid half the minimum wage, once you have 2 years experience we'll consider promoting you to the national minimum wage (which is still well below the living wage in most areas)". No fucking wonder the stats are skewed when shitty companies are just advertising their shelf-stacking apprenticeships as a way round the minimum wage.

[QUOTE=ZakkShock;51171473]I'm a plumbers apprentice in the US, I make a ridiculous amount of money for what I do.[/QUOTE] Apprenticeships are a lot different on this side of the Atlantic, mainly because they're pushed by unions and are much more regulated under US law. [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Apprenticeship_Act]Thank god for FDR[/url]

[QUOTE=TornadoAP;51172209]Apprenticeships are a lot different on this side of the Atlantic, mainly because they're pushed by unions and are much more regulated under US law. [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Apprenticeship_Act]Thank god for FDR[/url][/QUOTE] Christ, looks like you have a better deal in the US than we Brits do, that's a change. [QUOTE=fulgrim;51171743]Not surprised really. My girlfriend was doing bar work as part of an "apprenticeship"- Opening the bar, running the bar, working in the cellar, cleaning, closing the bar, managing the entire pub if the owners felt like going on holiday, £2 an hour, one day off a week. This was through the whole htp agency thing, so we were pretty sure it was legitimate. Nope, the guy from the agency rarely ever showed up to do her paperwork, but she was promised a full time job afterwards so she stayed on for almost two years. She was fired on the spot the day they were required to pay her a full wage, and two more "apprentices" were taken on instead.[/QUOTE] Yeah my apprenticeship assessor only ever turns up every few months and even then I've had cases where he's turned up, visited only one of the apprentices (and said he couldn't find the other two of us in the building) then gone straight back home. Not that I can blame him, he's basically stretched thin by the agency so that's probably why but the lack of communication just goes to show.

[QUOTE=Stopper;51171496]Let's not forget that the British youth isn't interested in acquiring a trade.[/QUOTE] Fuckin millennials.

I've desperately tried to get an apprenticeship since I dropped out of uni. After a couple of unsuccessful interviews I get a phone call from a college threatening me that if I continue to apply for any more it's likely that I'll get fined £1000's. Their reasoning is that seeing as I passed my first year of uni that I'm only legally allowed to do the top tier level of apprenticeship. Govt doesn't want us 'backtracking' on our education apparently. I have being dying for an apprenticeship for a couple of years now, mainly because many jobs out there require experience and I would like to learn a trade or something. Now I'm dying for a job at all. After so many interviews I don't know what else there is for me.