After every boom and bust cycle in the construction industry, having enough electrical apprentices on hand to take advantage of the eventual upswing in new building has always been a challenge. But it is one that was largely solved 28 years ago when a new way of employing apprentices was trialled that took a lot of risk out of employing trainees when times were uncertain.
Not only did it help maintain the continuity of training, it also enabled employers to hand back apprentices if they couldn’t maintain enough work for them and allow them to be hosted by other employers with little disruption to the completion of apprenticeships.
It was a market solution that succeeded for employers by pooling the risk while gaining the benefits and it has succeeded for the apprentices who frequently gained experience in more varied work along the way.
Group apprenticeship schemes are now an established industry model with none more successful than the Master-Electricians-owned, Electrical Training Company (Etco) which employs around 720 apprentices and provides night class and block course training for another 1,200 apprentices employed by other firms in the electrical contracting sector.
But following confirmation by the Government in August this year of its intention to restructure vocational training, doubt was cast on the future of group apprentice schemes. The initial announcement made no reference to them and when subsequent papers were released which acknowledged their role, concerns as to their future viability were raised by group training providers.