Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Apprenticeship programs are enjoying renewed interest in the US

Here's a good article from today's Chronicle of Higher Ed about one entrepreneur who is actively promoting apprenticeships in his state.  His organization is CareerWise Colorado.

As I've noted in this space a few times in the past, Germany can be looked to as a role model for apprenticeship programs.

Although the high-school dropout rate in the US has declined to about six percent, fewer than 70 percent of hight school graduates go on to college immediately after graduation.

The 30 percent who don't go off to college may be prime targets for apprenticeship training.  That's a lot of young women and men.  And the jobs are out there, too.  According to USA Today, this year an estimated 2.5 million so-called "middle skill" jobs will be added to our economy, accounting for 40 percent of all US job growth.  Adds the paper, some energetic young people in these jobs can amass $100,000 in annual income, counting expected overtime opportunities.

Unions used to be the biggest providers of apprenticeships.  With the decline of unionization in the private sector to less than 10 percent of the total workforces, apprenticeship programs sponsored by organized labor have also declined.  Outfits such as CareerWise Colorado are attempting to fill the vacuum.

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