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Around the world, apprenticeship training is primarily targeted at youth and young adults. In contrast, only a few states in the US have successfully used apprenticeship to support youth employment and training. This report examines the experiences and successes of the state of Georgia's youth apprenticeship program. Georgia youth apprenticeships are operated by the state's high schools in collaboration with local employers. Youth apprenticeship coordinators report that the greatest barrier to expanding youth apprenticeship is forming partnerships with employers. Employers involved with youth apprenticeship report high levels of satisfaction with the program, but often require clarification on the regulations governing employment of minors.

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The best prospect for improving job quality and compensation in low-wage jobs is by increasing worker productivity. This study investigates the prospects of registered apprenticeship training for raising productivity in the long-term care (LTC) industry, a high-demand, low-wage field that principally employs female caretakers. Case studies of five LTC registered apprenticeship programs and analysis of administrative data suggest that apprenticeship training improved productivity, client satisfaction, pay, and career advancement opportunities. It is less clear whether cost savings were sufficient to offset low Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement rates or remain sustainable without federal, state, or private support.

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While the US government sector employs about 15 per cent of nonfarm workers, federal, state, and local governments have not made substantial use of apprenticeships to enhance the skills of their workforce, increase productivity, and widen access to government positions. This report examines steps undertaken by Kentucky to build talent for state government through apprenticeship. The early outcomes are promising: departments can adopt and register apprenticeships quickly, employers are pleased with the productive contributions of apprentices, and apprentices recognize they are gaining valuable skills. The success of departments adopting apprenticeships bodes well for the expansion to other areas.

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Georgia has been one or the most successful US states to mount a youth apprenticeship program. Unlike registered apprenticeship, Georgia's youth apprenticeships rely heavily on apprenticeship coordinators (high school staff members) individually matching students with employers and designing appropriate training plans. The two most significant obstacles to expanding apprenticeship faced by employers are finding enough time or current employees to mentor apprentices and limiting liability for the health and safety of minors. Liability issues have made youth apprenticeship less common in the building trades and more common in education and healthcare.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this paper is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 151.801. Show less

The share of US workers who undertake apprenticeship training is small compared to most other OECD countries and compared to the number of workers who undertake postsecondary education. However, the scale of the US apprenticeship is large compared with the training funded through the federal Workforce Investment Act. Historically, US apprenticeship programmes have been highly concentrated in construction, manufacturing, and other selected fields, including public safety and some military occupations. Although the federal government has funded efforts to establish apprenticeships outside these traditional sectors, the gains have so far been modest. This paper describes how the US registered apprenticeship system operates and examines the benefits of apprenticeship for workers and employers. In addition to presenting data on the earnings gains for workers, the paper describes new evidence showing that employer sponsors of apprenticeship investments perceive the programme as highly desirable and worth expanding.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 101.305. Individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 101.306 to TD/TNC 101.319. Show less

The workforce strategy of firms is increasingly important for competitiveness and for producing at high quality and low costs. Firms must decide on the mix of skills and wages for current and future operations and on whether to train skilled workers or hire them from the open labour market. While traditional human capital theory states that firms will not finance training for general skills, modifications of the theory show training for general skills can be profitable. The modifications are compelling, since employer training for occupational skills varies widely across countries. Employers in the US and France provide little occupational training while the extent of employer occupational training in Germany and Switzerland is enough to reach 55-70 per cent of a youth cohort.

This chapter examines the factors influencing firm choices about providing one type of general training-apprenticeships. Offers of apprenticeships are common in countries where knowledge about apprenticeships is widespread, occupational standards are well developed, and the government finances related, off-the-job training. One reason is that firms in these countries recoup most or all of their investments during the apprenticeship itself, mainly because of the productive contributions to output by the apprentices. But in other contexts, such as the US, firms are far less likely to offer apprenticeships. South Carolina's Apprenticeship Carolina demonstrates how marketing to individual firms and simplifying the process of hiring apprentices can lead large numbers of employers to provide occupational skills training.

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Accelerating Opportunity (AO) provides grants to help community colleges create career pathway programs to enroll students with low basic skills into for-credit career and technical education courses to improve educational and employment outcomes. The second annual implementation report for the AO initiative in four states (Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, and North Carolina) finds that: colleges aligned pathways and supports with local needs; students were satisfied with AO; AO instructors grew more adept at team teaching; colleges struggled to recruit adult education students; states and colleges sought new financial support and developed partnerships; colleges served more students with fewer resources; and states changed policies to support and sustain AO.

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Apprenticeships are well suited to provide young people with an entry point into the labor market and to supply manufacturing enterprises with skilled workers. This report further investigates apprenticeship systems at a company level, focusing on the extent to which these practices deviate from the national apprenticeship frameworks and how companies are adapting to future skill needs. It builds on the analysis of national apprenticeship systems in the 2018 Eurofound report 'Adaptation of national apprenticeship systems to advanced manufacturing' [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 134.160] and summarises the results of 14 case studies of good practice in the manufacturing sector in five EU Member States (Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland and Italy) and two countries outside Europe (Australia and the United States). Situated in different national and sector-specific environments, all case studies are characterised by the aim to adjust apprenticeship programmes and/or practices in response to challenges emerging from advanced manufacturing technologies and processes. The case studies examine a series of different issues, notably context, drivers for implementing change, impact and crucial factors for success.

Edited excerpts from publisher's website.

The case studies are as follows: Modernisation of dual apprenticeship training at ABB: Germany / Eckhard Voss; Innovative practices at Airbus Operations in Hamburg: Germany / Eckhard Voss; Talent Tracks for gifted industrial apprentices: Denmark / Soren Kristensen; Knowledge centres for robot technology and automation: Denmark / Soren Kristensen; Jules Verne Manufacturing Academy: France / Djamel Messaoudi and Nicolas Farvaque; Job and Qualification Campus in transport: France / Djamel Messaoudi and Nicolas Farvaque; 'New' apprenticeships in the light of technological change: Ireland / Jeff Bridgford; Modernisation of a designated craft apprenticeship: Ireland / Jeff Bridgford; Bosch Industry 4.0 Talent Program: Italy / Anna Teselli and Pier Paolo Angelini; Higher apprenticeship in advanced manufacturing: Italy / Anna Teselli and Pier Paolo Angelini; Siemens higher apprenticeship pilot programme: Australia / Phil Toner and Damian Oliver; Varley Group: modernising apprenticeships: Australia / Keiko Yasukawa, Phil Toner and Damian Oliver; Adjusting apprenticeship at Oberg Industries: United States / Robert I. Lerman; Mechatronics Apprenticeship Program of Festo Didactic: United States / Bryan D. Kamm and Robert I. Lerman. Show less

Long run labor market trends in the American economy pose significant challenges. Growth in real money wages has been slow, with the most rapid gains taking place among workers at the top of the earnings distribution. Labor force participation and employment rates have been falling. Reduced labor force participation and obsolescence of workers' skills weigh down [gross domestic product] GDP growth, with predictable negative repercussions for living standards and federal revenue. These trends suggest a need for a major revamping of policies and programs that prepare people for careers and retrain people who must change careers. The authors focus on three major policy initiatives to maximize worker training to bolster productivity and wages: improve access to in-demand training; strengthen connections between career and technical education and training and employer needs; and build a robust apprenticeship system that emphasizes learning by doing in a context that involves apprentice contributions to production, and culminates in a respected occupational credential. This new system goes beyond the 'academic-only' approach commonly pursued in the US and should match individual interests, aptitudes, and skills to in-demand jobs and make new training investments that are cost effective and valued by employers.

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In the United States (US), the economic expansion of the 1990s has increased access to jobs for individuals from historically unemployed populations, but young adults with no more than a high school diploma, referred to here as out-of-school youth, still struggle to enter and to remain in the labour market. Demographic studies of out-of-school youth report that this population is disproportionately poor and minority and that many have criminal records. The two approaches to employment programs for out-of-school youth are described. The first focuses on providing education, training and job search services. The second creates and places youth in jobs, usually temporary positions designed for training. Some programs incorporate elements of both approaches. Promising strategies from selected programs for out-of-school youth are reviewed. Well designed job creation programs can produce useful community services and substantially raise the employment rate of participants during the program period, but job creation programs for out-of-school youth have not exerted significant, positive impacts on post-program earnings of the youth with access to subsidised employment. The limited success of several large, well-researched programs has led to pessimism about employment and training interventions aimed at helping dropouts and other disadvantaged out-of-school youth.

The volume of collected papers is indexed at TD/IRD 88.28. Show less