Apprenticeships are one of the most beneficial opportunities that a young person can be given to help them reach both their life and career potentials.
Leaving full-time education can be a difficult transition, especially if the young person is expected to go straight into full-time work. Apprenticeships offer that stepping stone that relieves the pressure of having to know and understand all the skills they need to operate productively in the workplace.
The Pressures Young People Face Leaving Secondary Education
The pressure associated with leaving full-time education increases exponentially if there are no jobs available, and they feel like they are incapable of returning to full-time education. This issue is more present than ever, as there is currently a youth unemployment crisis.
It has been forecast that 27% of young people will be unemployed by the end of the year due to the economic impact of coronavirus. In combination with this, of the few jobs that young people do have, they are often of inferior quality, being zero-hour contracts or self-employment.
This employment crisis is at risk of becoming a mental health crisis for young people throughout the UK: It has been found that instability in the first years of trying to find employment can have decades-long impacts on self-worth, confidence in finding jobs and confidence within job roles, leading to lower incomes down the career path. It is no surprise that leading specialists are already referring to this generation of young people as the ‘COVID generation’.
With three-quarters of mental health problems emerging by the age of 24, young people are at a critical age in which they need all the help they can get to prevent prolonged mental health issues. Such issues have been directly correlated with a persons ability to apply for, acquire and maintain work throughout their career.
Why Support Apprenticeships?
Apprenticeships offer not only stability and the proposition of a job upon completion, but also the confidence in seeing their abilities being successfully put to the test within a business environment. For those who are leaving full-time education at 18, they will have operated within a school institution for around 14 years. With the most experience someone that age could have gained is in a lower-skilled, part-time and temporary position, the jump to being expected to operate in a full-time occupation productively is potentially overwhelming.
An apprenticeship relieves that pressure, giving the young person all the time and support they need to be confident at their job. Furthermore, with modern apprenticeships being very adaptable, they will be made to learn the skills that the business is missing. A young person entering a new workplace and seeing their contributions being desperately needed could transform their confidence and mental health.
Even for those ex-apprentices who decide to leave their occupation, it has been found that they are more able to find a quality job quicker than those who pursued a different form of higher education. This is because apprenticeship training is tailored such that the apprentice is taught all of the skills that the company needs. In turn, apprentices are more likely to have the skills to fill a skill gap in another company than a graduate who has little or no work experience.
What Can We Do?
At Employing an Apprentice, we are devoted to providing the necessary guidance and support to young people and businesses alike. This is why we have compiled information on everything from your government funding options for taking on an apprentice, to clear explanations of complex topics such as the Apprenticeship Levy. We have taken the time to compile this information so that you can concentrate on reaping the benefits of recruiting an apprentice.
For all those great organisations that want to support our work in raising awareness for apprenticeships as the perfect solution to this crisis, we have created our apprenticeship-positive directory. Organisations who are listed on the directory can describe the work they are doing to support apprenticeships, whilst directing young people and other apprenticeship-positive organisations to your products and services.
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