E&W Blog

“Like coronavirus, the skills gap is mutating, in potentially dangerous ways.” The Financial Times hit the nail on the head with that line. In 2019, seven in ten employers reported talent shortages, according to a job placement firm. CNBC reported that’s “more than three times higher than a decade ago.” Unfortunately, COVID-19 has compounded this problem.

One in five small businesses pointed to “lack of employee skills as the single biggest challenge they face” while adapting to the COVID-19 environment, according to a recent survey from GetApp.
 
Millions of workers will need reskilling due to pandemic-related job loss and displacement. The Future of Jobs Report 2020 by the World Economic Forum found “84 percent of employers are set to rapidly digitalize working processes.”
 
As National Apprenticeship Week comes to a close, we are reminded that a solution to this problem is within reach. If we build upon existing apprenticeship models, we can expand apprenticeship opportunities to reach new workers and industries while closing our nation’s skills gap. 

A Path Forward
 
The future of our workforce depends on what we do today. The Department of Labor is moving forward with Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs) to give employers the flexibility to shape apprenticeship programs that will attract workers and prepare them for a 21st century, post-pandemic workforce.
 
We’ve seen real success stories unfold when we let employers innovate. Opportunity America and the Brookings Institute recently published a study on the Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME), an organization that connects educators, employers, and students with hands-on learning to strengthen the manufacturing industry.
 
The study found Kentucky FAME graduates, when compared to their non-FAME counterparts, earned up to 63 percent more one year after graduation. Five years after, FAME graduates earned $98,000, compared to $52,783 for non-FAME graduates. This study represents not only a success story in Kentucky, but it uncovers a larger narrative: there is untapped potential in the apprenticeship space waiting to be unleashed.
 
Necessity is the mother of invention; apprenticeships will aid in closing the skills gap and put more Americans to work as we recover from the pandemic, but only if job creators are given the flexibility to innovate and develop high-quality, earn-and-learn programs.