Apprenticeships. The solution to the skills gap?

Yesterday I was part of an excellent open forum in our great city of Birmingham, talking with other people in the professional and commercial sectors about whether Birmingham had, and if it could continue to capitalise on the country's improving economy. As if to drive home the point of how much the city has changed over recent years it was held in the new and iconic Library of Birmingham. The library is a testament to that metamorphosis having won awards for architectural excellence, a far cry from the national stereotype of our great city. But, you ask, what on earth has this got to do with apprenticeships?

Out of our discussions yesterday came one key issue for me, and it was this that drove the debate on the other issues that were discussed too. From my own point of view, like most professions and industries Tax is facing a bit of a skills gap and with the changes to our education system one could be forgiven for thinking that this might yet get worse given the ever increasing cost of putting the next generation through further and higher education. It became clear that this was an issue across the board, largely put down to the ravages of the recent recession, but how could this be solved?

The answer it would seem (or at least to us yesterday) was that we as leaders in our respective sectors have a responsibility to look not just at how we recruit our new staff, but also how we interact with our societies and the next generation before they reach the workplace and hopefully to inspire them. Apprenticeships are a route that I believe have oft been maligned by poor understanding both by teachers, students, their families and society in general. However, in recent years we have seen the introduction of higher level apprenticeships opening routes into engineering, commerce and even my own beloved profession of Tax. Just last week I was in London celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Association of Taxation Technicians, where we celebrated not just those who have been in the profession some time (yes, I know I don't look that old but it's amazing what you can do with photoshop!), but those new to it as well. Indeed we promoted our 25ATT25, being 25 young people who have already achieved great things in their short careers of which I would like to point out 3 had come through (or were coming through) the Tax Apprenticeship Scheme!

We left yesterday with a renewed sense of purpose about spreading this message amongst our peers, and doing what we can to involve ourselves in the promotion of alternative routes into work (there are more than just apprenticeships) not just to students and job seekers, but also to our peers who might otherwise disregard such initiatives. This blog post is my first attempt, and it won't be my last...