New Labor Department apprenticeship rule can help American businesses build workforce

Running a business and need more skilled workers? If you’re not considering apprenticeships, you’re behind the curve. Top American companies — including IBM, CVS Health and Lockheed Martin — now rely on apprenticeships to attract and train workers. A rule issued last week by the U.S. Department of Labor will help even more American businesses use apprenticeships to develop a skilled workforce that supports long-term growth.

Apprenticeships are paid positions in which workers master a new skill or trade through a combination of on-the-job training, mentoring and an educational component. Completion of an apprenticeship typically results in a credential certifying the expertise the worker has acquired.

Apprenticeships are common in some United States industries, under a program the Labor Department has run since the 1930s. The department’s new rule provides for Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs, or IRAPs, to give employers, trade associations, educators and unions additional flexibility to develop apprenticeship programs tailored to the needs of the current workplace and our dynamic economy.

For employers, this is an important opportunity: The rule is a means for a company to gain public recognition for crafting a training program that teaches the skills that it and other businesses need on the factory floor, in the laboratory or in the office. The apprentices the company attracts will be learning the enterprise’s own processes, adding value from day one.

The rule offers this flexibility by authorizing new accrediting bodies called Standards Recognition Entities, or SREs, to recognize high-quality apprenticeship programs. SREs are set up by trade associations, business groups, community colleges, unions and other organizations that have firsthand knowledge of the skills needed in the job market. The apprenticeship programs recognized by these bodies can be tailored to particular employers’ needs, while carrying the seal of approval of the recognizing SRE.

If you head a local manufacturing association, community college or small or large business looking for a more systematic way to develop a skilled workforce, the Labor Department challenges you to work with others to establish an SRE. And the department stands ready to offer assistance.

Expanding apprenticeships through this flexible, industry-led approach will meet an urgent need. With today’s near-record low unemployment, American employers are scrambling to find workers. At the end of last year, there were 670,000 more job openings than people looking for work. Wages are rising as employers compete to attract skilled workers.

In recent years, apprenticeship programs have gained powerful and broad support among United States businesses, educators and government leaders who recognize the higher-level skills demanded by the jobs in the current United States economy — and those leaders also recognize that a four-year college degree often isn’t the best means of gaining those skills. Apprenticeships, by contrast, often fill this need perfectly.

Expanding apprenticeships is not only important to President Donald Trump’s vision for developing the skilled workforce needed for an expanding United States economy — it also is a key component of his plan for providing economic opportunity for all Americans. Apprentices who complete Registered Apprenticeship programs earn an average starting salary of $70,000. And they can do so without taking on any college debt.

Programs funded by the Department of Labor have already opened doors for many Americans to become apprentices — particularly veterans, women and minorities. But government alone cannot equip the American workforce for the jobs of tomorrow. The private sector must lead. The new IRAP rule is an invitation to do so.

This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 7:00 AM with the headline "New Labor Department apprenticeship rule can help American businesses build workforce."