A recent survey conducted by Apprenticeship Central has highlighted the primary obstacles businesses face when considering apprenticeships with the most common being a lack of time for training, concerns about cost and difficulty finding suitable candidates.
The findings reveal that the top concern is a lack of time for training, scoring 31%. With increasing pressures around profit margins, KPIs and key to key times, dedicating time for teaching can be a challenge.
In close second, concerns about cost registered 28%. Businesses seem wary of the upfront and ongoing investments required but it has been proven that apprentices, when well-managed, can become profitable within the first year.
The difficulty in finding suitable candidates received 25% of the responses, indicating that many companies experience challenges in recruiting the right skills for their operational needs.
Meanwhile, uncertainty about the overall apprenticeship process scored 13%. This suggests that while process related hesitations exist, they are less prominent than time and cost concerns.
Apprenticeship Central is committed to supporting businesses to overcome the challenges that hold them back from investing in the next generation of talent.
Through the RECRUIT service, it offers a Pre-Employment Programme which identifies only the best candidates and connects businesses with local, motivated young talent—streamlining the entire candidate search and onboarding process.
Complementing this, RETAIN service offers ongoing support, safeguarding expertise and proactive retention strategies to ensure apprentices remain engaged.
Their tailored solutions tackle resource constraints, manage all administrative tasks and handle the necessary legwork, allowing businesses to focus on the technical elements of an apprenticeship.
