26 Jun The Apprentice Levy is here, but now what?
It was only a matter of months ago that the UK engineering community was celebrating the introduction of the Apprentice Levy. Now, as the dust has settled, a survey by Subcon in association with The Engineer has revealed industry professionals think the government could do more.
Of those questioned, 72% don’t believe the government is doing enough to promote skills training. In fact, 40% don’t even know if the Apprentice Levy will prove to be a good thing.
So what could government do to encourage more young people to join the glorious world of engineering? Nobody knows the answer to this better than the professionals, and their response is clear:
- Increase and improve education at school level
- Invest in apprenticeship training
- Promote potential career progression and opportunities
- Increase pay at all levels
- Improve the image of the industry
However, government can’t take sole responsibility for closing the skills gap. Of course, there is always more the government to do, but that’s true of engineering firms too. For example, did you know that just 54% currently train apprentices?
If we as an industry are going to overcome the growing skills gap problem, and inspire an additional 1.8 million people to become engineers by 2020, then we must work as closely as possible with government to create and implement a comprehensive and joined up strategy.