Something that felt incredibly relevant to IT Services companies crossed my desk – coverage of the growing interest in apprenticeships. It’s seen growth in the technology space over the past few years, and Axios looks at the startup Multiverse in the news. The concept — running paid apprenticeship programs in partnership with major companies. Multiverse is now working with more than 500 companies and organizations.
And this relates to recent pushes from the Department of Labor, which has included an apprenticeship ambassador program and a 120-day cybersecurity apprenticeship “sprint,” Even recently, CompTIA and Connectwise partnered to launch a training program for cybersecurity and technology workers via apprenticeship.
Want numbers? The Labor Department notes that More than 241,000 people began a registered apprenticeship last year, a 9 percent increase from the prior year. Notable, that’s still not to pre-pandemic numbers.
Why do we care?
I brought on a paid apprentice via a sponsored program in my MSP. Great decision – and often undervalued broadly. There’s a temptation, particularly among small companies, to hire only for specific needs due to the perceived tightness of expense management. That can be a mistake, and the numbers show strikingly high retention levels for apprentices. And, there’s now investment being made in the programs to take advantage of.