The boom in construction is sparking a revival in interest in careers in traditional trades, including the electrical industry.
In 2002, the electrical sector was recruiting some 5,000 apprentices a year – that figure is now nearer the 12,500 mark.
This year, the Federation of Master Builders has also reported that more than 40 per cent of small and medium-sized builders increased their workload in the first quarter of 2004, with 44 per cent expecting workloads to further increase for the rest of 2004.
Rising workloads go hand-in-hand with the need for skilled labour and that fact, coupled with a new apprenticeship scheme introduced by the Department for Education and Skills earlier this year, has resulted in an increased level of interest from young people in careers in the trades. |
In May, the Government reported that the number of apprenticeships in England had risen to 255,000 from 75,800 in 1997.
The new Young Apprenticeships scheme announced by the DfES, from September 2004, will allow students as young as 14 the opportunity to spend two days a week in the workplace learning from skilled tradesmen. It also removes the arbitrary 25-year-old age limit that barred older people from entering a trade as an apprentice.
One of the key aims of the new scheme is to reduce the traditional drop-out rate that has been a feature of modern apprenticeships in the past. |
Giving young people aged 14 to 16 time in the classroom as well as time on the job in the workplace is seen as the ideal way to ease them into working life.
Dennis Hird, Head of Education and Training at the Electrical Contractor’s Association, commented: “Many candidates undertaking modern apprenticeships at 16 or 17, on leaving school, find it a culture shock having to go to work every day and demonstrate commitment to an employer.
“The new scheme may generate a greater work commitment among apprentices outside a traditional school environment.”
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