Needing to fill skills gaps is the key reason for taking on apprentices, according to a Tech Partnership research survey of tech employers. But other factors are also important: apprentices offer improved access to talent, and increased productivity at reasonable cost. 

Perhaps less predictably, apprenticeships are also important for social responsibility reasons: employers believe that they improve the image of the business both with customers and with the local community. In setting up an apprenticeship programme, the key difficulties have come from recruitment: more than half (56 percent) of apprentice employers say they have encountered difficulty in getting the right people. Identifying high quality training that meets business needs has proved problematic for a similar proportion. 

The findings come from a survey hosted by the Tech Partnership in February and March 2016, and designed to establish employer views on digital apprentices in their organisations. Responses came from tech and non-tech companies, from SMEs to large multinationals, including some of the largest employers in the UK. With half (49 percent) of respondents yet to start an apprenticeship scheme, there are evidently substantial barriers to getting going. While a third (33 percent) of these organisations don’t believe they have a suitable role, nearly four in ten (39 percent) simply do not know where to start. Worryingly, the same proportion (39 percent) did not believe that current apprentice frameworks meet their business needs. 

To help address this issue, the Tech Partnership has developed Tech Industry Gold apprenticeships, which are designed and accredited by leading employers to provide dedicated support for businesses and apprentices alongside relevant, world-class tech training. The research confirms the importance of this kind of assurance: 62 percent of respondents say that they would be more confident of success using a programme accredited by the Tech Partnership.