This short briefing note considers the resilience of the Apprenticeship sector to the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic. We treat working from home as a proxy for resilience as it signals the ability to continue working during the COVID-19 lockdown. The report draws on insights from The Federation's COVID-19 survey, the labour force survey, and [Department for Education] DfE data on apprenticeship starts.
Key points are as follows: (1) 43.5 per cent of jobs in the UK could feasibly be done from home, making the UK economy one of the best placed in Europe to continue working through t
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This short briefing note considers the resilience of the Apprenticeship sector to the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic. We treat working from home as a proxy for resilience as it signals the ability to continue working during the COVID-19 lockdown. The report draws on insights from The Federation's COVID-19 survey, the labour force survey, and [Department for Education] DfE data on apprenticeship starts.
Key points are as follows: (1) 43.5 per cent of jobs in the UK could feasibly be done from home, making the UK economy one of the best placed in Europe to continue working through the pandemic but the ability to work from home differs markedly by worker; the youngest workers and those with the least qualifications are the least likely to work from home; this makes the apprenticeship sector more exposed than the general economy; young workers (16-24 year-olds) make up 12 per cent of employment, but 54.3 per cent of apprentice starts; (2) the ability to work from home differs by industry, and the pandemic will affect some parts of the system to a greater degree; some of the most popular Apprenticeship Standards such as Retailer and Hospitality Team Member are in sectors that have been severely affected by lockdown and will find the transition to remote working difficult; (3) 8.3 per cent of apprentices occasionally work from home compared to 25.3 per cent of non-apprentice workers; (3) our COVID-19 survey highlighted particular problems with Apprenticeships, including a difficulty engaging furloughed apprentices, and a lack of tech at home; worryingly many in the sector are seeing the pipeline run dry; and (4) while academic routes can be a safe way to weather an economic storm and recruitment can be counter-cyclical, the same cannot be said for Apprenticeships; in a downturn, companies cut training budgets, and freeze recruitment; as all Apprentices have to be employed, The Federation estimates a cumulative loss of 119,077 Apprenticeship starts in both Frameworks and Standards in the 12 months from March 2020 to February 2021 as a result of the pandemic.
Edited excerpts from publication.
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