Employers prioritising Apprentices over Graduates to gain
specialist skills for the future
Key findings:
- · Almost
three quarters of companies recruiting Apprentices, up from 66%
in 2014
- · One third
of companies recruiting Graduates, down from two thirds in
2014
- · 80% of
manufacturers say average age of workforce is 41 or
older
- · Half of
manufacturers expect up to a fifth of their workforce to retire
within a decade
- · Almost
half of companies are recruiting from other industries and
sectors up from just over a third in 2014.
Britain’s manufacturers are urging Universities to cast their net
much wider to include vocational learners rather than
prioritising academic pupils, on the back of new survey evidence
showing companies are giving greater priority to investing in
Apprenticeship programmes than recruiting Graduates.
The survey, published today by EEF, the manufacturers’
organisation shows a clear shift in this direction by employers
looking to ensure they have the specialist skills they will need
in the future.
According to EEF, the data highlights the vital need to meet
skills shortages at craft and technician level, as well as bring
fresh young talent into the sector. This is partly driven by a
rapidly ageing workforce with a significant number of employees
expected to retire in the coming years.
Furthermore, with companies still planning to expand despite the
economic and political uncertainty they are increasingly looking
to recruit employees with transferable skills from other
industries and sectors to plug hard to fill roles.
Commenting, Verity Davidge, Head of Education & Skills Policy
at EEF, said:
“With a lack of technical skills continuing to drive recruitment
problems, apprenticeships are firmly in the spotlight to fix this
challenge. Offering the perfect mix of technical knowledge,
skills and training, apprenticeship programmes are ticking all
the right boxes for manufacturers. As a result we are seeing
these numbers take off, while graduate programmes are on a
downward descent.
“Universities and the wider higher education sector need to be
alive to these trends as more and more employers and young people
are now opting for vocational pathways that can offer a degree
qualification at the end. As such they must open their doors to
vocational learners, including T Level students in the near
future, and put an end to prioritising academic pupils.”
According to the survey almost three quarters of companies (72%)
are planning to recruit Apprentices compared to 66% in 2014. But,
by contrast, the number now planning to recruit Graduates has
fallen to 34% compared to 66% in 2014.
The need to bring fresh young talent into manufacturing is
highlighted by the fact four fifths of companies say the average
age of their workforce is 41 or older whilst almost half of
companies expect between 11% and 20% of their workforce to retire
in the next decade.
Furthermore, with almost four fifths of vacancies (38%)
considered hard to fill in manufacturing employers are increasing
their recruitment of people with transferable skills from other
industries and sectors. This has increased from just over a third
(36%) back in 2014 to almost half (48%).
