Government support for apprenticeships

Offering apprenticeships is one way that businesses can go about training new employees in practical skills. However they are also often criticised as simply a cheap way of hiring labour for a couple of years, with no guarantee of employment for the apprentice at the end of the training period. The government is trying to increase the number of apprenticeships on offer as one way of tackling youth unemployment and the skills gap that we have in the UK economy, by offering grants to small businesses who take on an apprentice. This video report looks at the history of apprenticeships, with some lovely footage from the sixties, and the benefits that the scheme could bring, along with the fact that there is still no guarantee of a full-time job at the end of it, and so could be useful for students of both unit 2, looking at recruitment and training, and unit 4 looking at the relationship between business and government.

When the BBC Breakfast programme carried the report on Thursday morning they also featured an interview with a couple of engineering apprentices at the Mini factory in Cowley, who were both very enthusiastic about the training they were receiving. The company’s website says that “Plant Oxford is home to one of the region’s largest apprenticeship schemes employing and training around 30 apprentices per annum on a four-year course, which for some will culminate with an honours degree gained at a local university.” It is also, incidentally, a brilliant place to take students on a plant tour - details here.

Revision Presentation - Training [17 May 2012]
Business legislation - the cost to businesses [5 Mar 2012]
A light-hearted look at induction training [6 Feb 2012]
Unemployment and motivation [28 Dec 2011]
Optimism and expansion in consumer leisure markets [2 Dec 2011]
Job Production…Unwrapped [10 Nov 2011]
Lesson video - a day in the life of a supermarket [20 Oct 2011]
Stakeholders gripped by the bad news coming from BAE Systems [28 Sep 2011]
Strategies for success on the beleaguered high street [6 Sep 2011]
Corporate culture meets recruitment [28 Aug 2011]
Where there’s muck there’s brass [6 Jul 2011]
Private v Public Sector - A Clash of Two Cultures? [20 Apr 2011]
On-the-job-training - The Come Fly With Me approach [23 Jan 2011]
Training, social immobility and tuition fees - KPMG’s blueprint solution [13 Jan 2011]
BUSS1 Revision Quiz - Employing People [14 Dec 2010]
Video case study - enterprise at the sharp end [27 Nov 2010]
A great example of off-the-job-training - Starbucks Coffee College [16 Oct 2010]
The business cost of labour turnover [7 Oct 2010]
Customer Service - What Students Can Learn from John Lewis Partnership [12 Jun 2010]
HRM priorities as firms exit the recession [27 Feb 2010]
Money as a motivator in social work? [20 Feb 2010]
Strategies for the Recession - Insights from Six Restaurant Group CEOs [19 Feb 2010]
A CEO’s take on the effect of the recession on UK restaurants [18 Feb 2010]
Leadership sets the culture for a thriving retail brand [31 Jan 2010]
Introducing business and the economic environment with Darling’s debt dilemma [27 Jan 2010]
Revision Quiz - Unemployment [13 Jan 2010]
Breakfast for $1 tests price elasticity of demand [12 Dec 2009]
The UK: A nation of accidental managers [10 Nov 2009]
School for Santas [7 Nov 2009]
Q&A - How are businesses affected by unemployment? [27 Oct 2009]
Q&A - What are the main causes of unemployment? [27 Oct 2009]
Q&A - What has happened to unemployment in the UK? [27 Oct 2009]
Q&A - Explain what unemployment is and how it is measured [27 Oct 2009]
The lights go out for the nightclub market [26 Sep 2009]
Picking from a growing pool of job hunters [19 Aug 2009]
Q&A - Outline the main costs and benefits of inflation [1 Jul 2009]
A stunning example of how wage costs can differ for the same job [10 Jun 2009]
Q&A - What is a sales forecast? [31 May 2009]
Q&A - What is training? [2 May 2009]
Q&A - How do changes in commodity prices affect businesses? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - What are the main legal areas that a start-up business needs to consider? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - Explain “time-rate” pay [1 May 2009]
Q&A - What factors should a business consider when deciding what to pay employees? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - Why do businesses employ temporary workers? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - Explain the main issues with part-time employees [1 May 2009]
Q&A - What are full-time employees? [1 May 2009]
Q&A - What is involved in a training strategy? [1 May 2009]
More flak for the banks from business customers - what have they done with bail-out cash? [18 Feb 2009]
Flexible employment at Mini - the upside and the downside [16 Feb 2009]
AIG ends Manchester United sponsorship deal [23 Jan 2009]
Highest Productivity in the Industry - But Still Crippled by the Crunch [8 Jan 2009]
Valuing Apprentices [29 Dec 2008]
Bracing ourselves for a series of retail business failures? [21 Dec 2008]
Business cutbacks and job losses [26 Nov 2008]
Video case study - Nissan [24 Oct 2008]
Selling is the way to respond to a recession [13 Oct 2008]
Flexible working - evidence of a significant change in the UK workforce [9 Sep 2008]
Government support for small business - cutting red tape [25 Aug 2008]
Wanna job? Get down to McDonalds [18 Aug 2008]
Marketing strategy - making the pier stand out from the crowd [13 Aug 2008]
Starting a business - have your cake and eat it [6 Aug 2008]
Cash is king for small businesses in the downturn [1 Aug 2008]
Is training the key to survival in a downturn? [13 Jul 2008]
Who should a start-up employ? Simple - the kids [21 Jun 2008]
Porkie Pies Don’t Cut It in the Real Job Market [15 Jun 2008]
The Business Studies Lessons from Terminal 5 [30 Mar 2008]
Tesco creates waves in seaside holiday town [25 Mar 2008]
Starbucks Closes 7,100 US Outlets [27 Feb 2008]

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