The Benefits and Challenges of Registered Apprenticeship: The Sponsors’ Perspective

In the U.S., there were nearly 28,000 registered apprenticeship programs, with over 465,000 active apprentices in Fiscal Year 2007. "Registered apprenticeship program sponsors are individual employers or groups of employers, sometimes in collaboration with unions, who": develop and run programs; recruit, screen and hire apprentices; and work with state apprenticeship agencies (SAAs) to make sure programs meet state and Federal requirements (Abstract). The survey data showed that 97 percent of sponsors are highly satisfied with registered apprenticeship and would recommend it to other businesses. More than 80 percent of sponsors said that they use registered apprenticeship to meet their need for skilled workers. Seventy-two percent said that registered apprenticeship helps them know which workers have needed skills; and 68 percent feel that the model raises productivity, strengthens worker morale, and improves worker safety. However, about a quarter of sponsors viewed apprentices’ failure to complete their apprenticeship program as a significant problem. About 51 percent of sponsors said they would like help in finding and screening applicants, and 41 percent said they would like help in finding related instruction. About one third also identified as important several operational improvements in the registered apprenticeship system, including faster registration of apprentices, a simpler process for setting up a program, and easier multi-state registration. Sponsors generally gave high marks to their SAAs on a variety of factors but indicated their interactions with other parts of the workforce investment system were generally quite limited. (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff)

"Competitor firms’ bidding away trained apprentices (commonly called “poaching”) was a concern but not a deterrent to providing apprenticeship training. The problem was identified as a significant concern by about one in four sponsors and a minor concern by another 29 percent. Completion rates reported by sponsors were very high with 54 percent saying that at least 80 percent of their apprentices completed their program. However, non-completion is of concern to over half of all sponsors; 24 percent identified it as a significant problem and 31 percent indicated it was a minor problem. Sponsors often use current employees to recruit new apprentices but the second most frequently cited source was community colleges and public technical schools. The One- Stop Career Center system and unions were the least frequently identified sources, each cited by only about 14 percent of all sponsors. Many sponsors say they want help in finding and screening applicants, as well as in finding related instruction. A large share of sponsors also identified as important several operational improvements in the registered apprenticeship system, such as faster registration of apprentices (36 percent), a simpler process for setting up a program (37 percent), more feedback on delayed or rejected approvals for programs (26 percent), and easier multi-state registration (32 percent). Sponsors generally gave high marks to their State Apprenticeship Agencies. Eighty-two percent indicated the agencies did a “good” or “excellent” job in being timely; 80 percent gave similar ratings for clarity of guidance; 70 percent gave similar marks for use of on-line registration; and 64 said the SAAs were “good” or “excellent” in promoting and publicizing registered apprenticeship. The majority of sponsors wanted to know more about competency-based approaches. Just over 56 percent of survey respondents said they were interested in learning about, or how to use, competency-based apprenticeship training. Sponsors’ interactions with the Workforce Investment System were generally quite limited. While nearly 30 percent of sponsors said that they had at least one interaction with the public workforce investment system, only 17 percent reported they used a One- Stop Career Center or the Job Service to post apprenticeship openings and 16 percent reported they received applicants referred by a One-Stop or Job Service" (p.v). (Abstractor: Author)

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2009
• Author(s): Lerman, Robert; Eyster, Lauren; Chambers, Kate
• Organizational Author(s): The Urban Institute, Center on Labor, Human Services and Population; American University
• Funding Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies