Apprenticeships can help businesses across all sectors by offering a route to harness fresh new talent. UK businesses consider skills shortages and recruitment difficulties a bigger threat to performance than soaring oil prices and declining consumer spending, and more than a quarter of these rate this form of vocational training higher than any other qualification.

Apprenticeships ensure that your workforce has the practical skills and qualifications your organisation needs now and in the future. The mixture of on and off job learning ensures they learn the skills that work best for your business. Over 130,000 companies offer apprentice places because they understand the benefits that apprentices bring to their business – increased productivity, improved competitiveness and a committed and competent work-force.

Improve your bottom line

Apprenticeships deliver real returns to your bottom line. In a recent survey*, the majority of employers said that Apprenticeships helped them to improve productivity and to be more competitive. They also said that training apprentices is more cost effective than hiring skilled staff, leading to lower overall training and recruitment costs.

* Apprenticeships, survey conducted by Populus on behalf of the Learning and Skills Council, February 2009.

Fill your skills gaps

Apprenticeships deliver skills designed around your business needs. They also help you develop the specialist skills you need to keep pace with the latest technology and working practices in your sector. Employers in the Populus survey said they relied on their Apprenticeship programmes to provide the skilled workers they need for the future.

Motivate your workforce

Apprentices tend to be eager, motivated, flexible and loyal to the company that invested in them. Remember, an apprentice is with you because they want to be – they have made an active choice to learn on the job and a commitment to a specific career.

Earlier research, conducted in February 2008 by Populus on behalf of the LSC to launch the first National Apprenticeship Week revealed:

• 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.