The Apprenticeship Levy came into force on 6 April, and the Telegraph’s Steve Hill argues that we need to take full advantage of the UK Government’s initiative ‘to ensure larger organisations get serious about apprenticeship programmes’.
The Telegraph writes:
In 2015, the UK Government committed to creating three million new apprenticeships by 2020. The development and delivery of degree-level apprenticeships is seen as a key part of this policy reform. And to fund this initiative, organisations with a turnover of £3 million or more will have to spend 0.5% of their annual wage bill on the apprenticeship levy. Employers are now highly incentivised to hire apprentices and the savvy ones will seize the opportunity to identify and address skill gaps they have now and in the future – putting them in the best position to deal with changing environments – and essentially gain real business benefits. While those that see the levy as just another tax will ultimately lose out.
… And the skills gap is not an issue that is going to just go away – particularly in a post-Brexit Britain – unless decisive action is taken by organisations. The need for investment in skills development will be even more urgent for a UK that is outside of the EU. With major skills shortages in industries such as construction, engineering, and IT, we are relying on EU workers to plug the gaps that are in short supply. Furthermore, EU workers are making a big contribution to the healthcare sector (11% of all NHS staff are not British) – employers may see a shrinking talent pool that exacerbates the skills gaps that already exist in the economy….
If it wasn’t before, the call to action is now loud and clear – business leaders need to take notice and consider how they can invest more in training their workers.
