New findings have revealed that businesses should put aside any doubts they may have about employing young people and invest in apprentices in order to remain financially viable. A report published by the Institute of the Motor Industry claimed that certain sectors, its own included, need to broaden their horizons when it came to recruiting new talent, looking no further than apprentices and school leavers.

Unfortunately, the fact remains that employers still appear to have reservations when it comes to employing apprentices. This is evidenced by the fact that, despite immense publicity and sustained funding in recent years, those engaging with apprentices are still very much in the minority. Here we examine some of the most common objections people seem to have in our experience (and why they’re wrong).

Apprentices are NOT inferior to university graduates

There is a longstanding, if outdated, perception. Graduates are not necessarily more academic, or even more intelligent, than apprentices. With university fees having risen exponentially and the number of those attending now falling, many young school-leavers view apprenticeships as a preferable route into the jobs market. We have encountered many apprentices and met those with three, or even four, As at A-Level.

Apprentices are enthusiastic

Business owners worry that apprentices are immature – emotionally or job-wise. There is a widely-held belief that they either lack the technical skills to do the job properly, or are simply too immature and unreliable to hold a full-time job at their age. They may fear that taking the time to teach an apprentice will slow down productivity, which is an issue for small businesses in particular, where resources are thinly spread. Taking on a pre-skilled employee who can quickly get on with the job is often viewed as the easier, less costly option. There is no doubt that a 16-18 year old is less mature than a 30 year old, but why must this be a bad thing? Younger staff generally have enthusiasm to learn new skills, won’t yet have picked up any bad working habits and can offer a blank canvas that can be shaped to suit a company’s exacting needs. Young apprentices are also technologically adept, drive innovation and inspire.

Hiring an apprentice can be easy

Employing an apprentice can also involve a bureaucratic burden. As well as completing the standard paperwork associated with hiring a new employee, out of office training must also be organised, regular assessments given and accreditation and funding applied for. These expenses are particularly heavy if a business provides its own in-house training, which must follow the stringent Specification of Apprenticeship Standards Framework. However, there are many third-party organisations, such as learndirect, that exist purely to remove this burden. Such partners can deal with training and associated requirements with no cost to the business employing the apprentice, as the funding comes from Government initiatives. Additional support can be received from the National Apprenticeships Services.

Apprentices are loyal

Some employers are put off by the thought of investing heavily in training an apprentice, only to have them leave as soon as they’re capable of applying their newly-found skills to a role with a competitor. Others may even harbour worries that the apprentice themselves may one day become the competition, a real concern in a world where technology is moving at a dizzying pace, with businesses fighting to keep up with and stay ahead of the changes. This is a valid concern, but multiple studies have demonstrated that young apprentices feel exceptional loyalty to those that have taken them on and trained them, and that they become a productive member of the team within six months.

The good news is that such objections are becoming fewer and that times are changing, with employers realising that apprentices can be a superb, cost-effective business enabler.  Businesses really cannot afford to ignore sourcing of this precious talent stream, which is now worth an estimated £4.4 billion to the UK economy each year. Already making huge strides in proving their worth in the workplace, apprentices are a readily available, vast pool of talent who really could provide the solution to the UK’s skills gap and the country’s youth unemployment figures as the jobs market strengthens.

Those forward-thinking organisations that do embrace apprentices are seeing the benefits, with 96% of employers who take them on reporting a positive impact on their business as a result, according to the Apprenticeships website. The fact that the Government’s projected investment in apprenticeships over the 2013/14 financial year will total £1.5 billion speaks volumes about the important part young people play in the UK job market. Some 100,000 employers in the UK offer apprenticeships, which cover more than 170 industries and 1,500 job roles, which is definitely some serious food for thought when it comes to expanding your own workforce and overcoming any lingering doubts about tapping this valuable talent source.

– See more at: http://www.omnirms.com/blog/2014/03/why-businesses-need-to-invest-in-apprentices/#sthash.FbIm4WMp.dpuf