Apprenticeships are having a moment. Investments in the earn-and-learn model are being made across federal agencies and through key legislation including the CHIPS and Science Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Individual states are enacting policies to strengthen and codify programming, the Senate has proposed provisions to strengthen access to pre-apprenticeship and youth apprenticeship in its recent WIOA draft, and the U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a historic set of rule changes.
Yet, Multiverse—one of the leading providers of apprenticeships in the U.K.—made headlines recently when it announced it would pause its registered apprenticeship programs in the U.S. The move prompts the question: Is something broken in our U.S. system?
The company’s departure underscores the need to address a number of challenges to support broader adoption by employers and greater equity and access for workers and learners. While there are likely many reasons for Multiverse’s decision, the rigidity and pace of the U.S. apprenticeship system and cost of establishing and sustaining programs are no doubt significant headwinds. Other apprenticeship stakeholders have highlighted these same challenges and raised concerns that they hamper broad access to apprenticeship.
There is a clear need to remove financial barriers, prioritize flexibility, and invest in efforts to support program sustainability. This is especially important for ensuring equal access to small and micro employers, employers from industries that are new to apprenticeship, and workers and learners who have long faced barriers to participation, including youth, individuals with disabilities, rural workers, and justice-involved individuals.
Addressing these issues will create more opportunities for meaningful participation and support the scaling and sustainability of new and existing programs. So, what can be done?
Increase public funding and prioritize innovation, flexibility, and responsiveness to meet the needs of employers and apprentices. Today’s apprenticeship system lacks the funding it needs to move beyond growth to long-term sustainability. Current investments are time-based and focus on specific projects and initiatives with little funding being allocated to the capacity building needed to ensure that programs continue once federal investments have ended. Braiding and blending these resources with other funding streams, especially those outside of the workforce system, has also proven challenging and difficult for employers to navigate. More innovative investment models should be employed to make apprenticeship more cost effective and accessible. This includes formula funding, greater resources for staff capacity and supportive services, and the de-siloing of federal funding programs.
Refine how success is defined to be more inclusive. Apprenticeship investments largely measure success by the number of programs created or scaled and the number of individuals who enrolled and completed. Funding tends to favor high outcome numbers which can limit access for small and micro employers who may only be able to train a couple apprentices at a time. Existing outcome measures also do not focus on the apprentice’s experience while in training, which limits our understanding of the barriers they may face in completing. Reframing success as more than just growth will allow us to shift beyond expansion to a greater focus on quality. This can help to ensure that we strengthen what is working, continuously improve what isn’t, and provide employers and participants greater access to quality programs.
Streamline reporting requirements and prioritize continued education and awareness to help stakeholders effectively navigate the system. The U.S. apprenticeship system is complex with multiple governance structures and extensive administrative requirements that demand a high-level of staff capacity. Scaling efforts to raise awareness and support knowledge building can help employers and stakeholders more efficiently navigate the system at the state and federal levels and dispel many of the myths and misconceptions that still exist around what apprenticeship is and who it is for. Creating more streamlined and coordinated processes will ensure that capacity does not become a barrier to access and will drive broader adoption of apprenticeship, especially by employers and other stakeholders from communities and industries that have struggled to benefit from the last decade of investment in the system.
While there are important changes to be made in our apprenticeship system, there is movement happening in this direction. The many state and federal funding and policy efforts happening signal a clear understanding that our apprenticeship system must evolve, and the data shows us that apprenticeship is growing. Now is the moment to enhance efforts to improve the system to ensure that the promise it offers can be fully realized by all employers and workers.
Vanessa Bennett is a director in the JFF Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning.