TalentPeople Blog

A couple of weeks ago I asked my LinkedIn connections to fill in a short survey about apprenticeships – just a snapshot survey to commemorate my one year anniversary in the sector, and to help me take a step back and see the wood for the trees again. There has been so much change in Apprenticeships in the last year, particularly the potential impact of Brexit on future talent, the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy, not to mention the election and (another!) change of government minister overseeing its roll out. 

GMFJs very own MD David Allison speaks about the future reflecting on the skills challenges and why we should be planning yesterday for the implementation of Apprenticeship and Early Talent programmes.

A Level Results Day and GCSE Results Day are key dates- young people across the country are at the beginning of their next step.

As part of our strategy to engage more people with apprenticeships, and to help and support young people, schools, advisors and parents on these days, we have created some great resources to download, so that everyone has the best information possible to make their decision right for them.

One of the governments aims is to increase the proportion of apprentices from black, Asian and minority ethnic communities by 20 per cent. The government is also working towards getting more young women into apprenticeships that men tend to work in such as engineering. Employers are making sure that they have a diverse workforce so that they attract more minorities into their apprenticeship scheme. Rolls-Royce particularly have a reputation for ‘creativity and excellence’ and to them, diversity is essential to maintaining their ‘world class offer’. Rolls-Royce is looking to their own apprenticeship scheme to ensure it builds an ‘inclusive next generation of inspiring innovators’. So how can you make sure your apprenticeship scheme is diverse?

Fewer University Applications

You may have heard recently that some familiar faces from the BBC are on a huge amount of money and more staggeringly, the male TV stars are on far more than highest paid female stars. For example, Chris Evans is paid between £2,200,000 – £2,249,999, he is the highest paid male ‘talent’ as the BBC calls them. And Claudia Winkleman earns between £450,000 – £500,000, that is a huge disparity.
The BBC has long suffered from allegations about their stars not being paid equally to one another. It has only been after the BBC was compelled to publish these figures under the terms of its royal charter, have we seen the true figures. Even the Prime Minister has weighed in on this issue stating, ‘What’s important is that the BBC looks at the question of paying men and women the same for doing the same job.’ Everyone is calling for equality.

GetMyFirstJob, the UK’s leading apprenticeship matching service, has been ranked as one of the best British businesses to work for, following an independent study conducted by the Sun newspaper.

Over 60% of young people in the UK feel inadequately prepared for the world of work by the time they leave school, according to new research from GetMyFirstJob.

Apprenticeships are big news. As we approach the General Election, all the main parties have had something to say about them – but whoever gets the keys to Number 10 in May, the facts remain; apprenticeships are a great way to either start or change career – and they’re not just for young people.