All aboard the apprentice-ship

IT leaders are finding it increasingly hard to recruit new team members with both technical and interpersonal skills. However, hopes are growing that the situation will soon improve.

In its Budget proposals announced in March, the government outlined measures to stimulate the UK economy and drive business growth. The number of 18- to 24-year-olds in the UK not in employment, academia or training is at a record high of more than one million. The government aims to tackle this issue by promoting apprenticeship schemes, which could help address the skills gap for IT leaders who are recruiting.

The coalition pledged £180m for a scheme to generate work for young people, focusing on two distinct types of apprenticeship scheme. Of the 40,000 apprenticeships that the government intends to create, 10,000 will be higher-level apprenticeships and the remaining will focus on school leavers who are attempting to enter the world of employment.

But what do the government’s pledges mean for the UK’s IT industry in practice? And will it really help develop the rounded professionals that the sector needs to ensure its future prosperity?

Karen Price, CEO at IT skills body e-Skills UK, believes apprenticeship schemes are the best way forward in tackling the skills gap.

“We have been working with employers to develop IT apprenticeship programmes that meet the needs of the sector,” she says.

Her sentiments are echoed by Richard Holway, chairman at research firm TechMarketView, who believes that creating more apprenticeship schemes in the IT industry will give both school leavers and graduates the skills they need to be successful in the world of work.

“You can educate people, but without giving them real experience of work, many graduates find that they leave university with the wrong degree and there are not any decent jobs that they can do,” he says.

However, putting money aside and calling for more apprenticeship schemes is not enough to successfully tackle the skills gap, according to James Lloyd-Townshend, director at recruitment firm Hays IT.

“These strategies will only be effective in closing the skills gap and reducing high levels of unemployment if we continue to engage with young people to encourage them to train and develop skills in the more ‘in-demand’ areas, such as IT,” he says.

He adds that government-backed initiatives are rife with bureaucracy, which must be reduced to make real progress.

“Existing employment legislation and the abundance of red tape prevent growth,” he explains. “We need the government to scrap £350m of business regulation and work with employers to ensure any regulation is easy to implement and supports both employers and employees.”

The proposals require companies to contribute to the cost. Holway argues that it is only right that the private sector takes financial responsibility for these measures.

“The £180m pledged doesn’t make a huge difference, when you consider the cost per apprentice. The key thing is that this is the way it should be done. It’s the best way for the industry to pay back to society and grow our economy,” he says.

Taking on an apprentice is not without its responsibilities for employers. As well as funding apprentices, employers will need to invest management time in training them. As part of the scheme, apprentices will be off-site on training courses, often for up to 200 days per year, so they will not be available to work all the time.

“Taking on [an apprentice] sounds great, but they need constant supervision,” adds Holway. “At the beginning, they won’t be doing much productive work, so it is a major undertaking for any business.”

However, there are schemes in other industries, such as one offered by accountancy firm Deloitte, that do have very obvious benefits for all involved. Apprentices at the firm divide their time between university and work experience over the course of five or six years. They come out at the other end having been paid over the course of their training, with real job experience, education and no debt.

Another company that has a lot or experience in training apprentices is BT. The company recently expanded its own apprenticeship scheme, and it has been a leader in the creation of apprenticeships for some time.

“If you look at the number of people in our sector who have come through BT, even at a really senior level in a range of organisations, it’s startlingly good,” says Holway.