Expanding Youth Apprenticeships to Strengthen Labor Force

The House Small Business Committee Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development explored the potential of youth apprenticeships to attract young workers to small businesses and alleviate worker shortages. Chairman Jason Crow emphasized the benefits of apprenticeships, offering a comparable alternative to a 4-year university education while bolstering the small business labor force. The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant stress on the labor market, with over half of American small businesses concerned with hiring enough employees and overall employee retention. Youth apprenticeships have emerged as a proven model to help small businesses attract workers and supply young people with the skills needed to launch a career.

Key Takeaways:

Chairman Jason Crow highlighted the benefits of youth apprenticeships, offering a comparable alternative to a 4-year university education while bolstering the small business labor force.
Over half of American small businesses are concerned with hiring enough employees and overall employee retention, exacerbated by decreased legal immigration, early retirements, and childcare shortages.
Youth apprenticeships have emerged as a proven model to help small businesses attract workers and supply young people with the skills needed to launch a career, with 214,000 people aged 16 to 24 in an apprenticeship in 2022, double the number from a decade ago.
Studies have shown that many companies implementing apprenticeship programs report improved productivity and increased new business opportunities.
Employers, particularly small businesses, are critical to the design and delivery of youth apprenticeships, offering benefits such as recruiting talent, ensuring education and training alignment, and building a loyal workforce.
Stronger partnerships between small businesses and secondary schools can increase a segment of the economy experiencing challenges in finding a ready workforce, with students engaged in CTE programs better prepared for the workforce and less likely to need significant student loans.

Statistics:

214,000 people aged 16 to 24 were in an apprenticeship in 2022.
This number is double the number of those in an apprenticeship a decade ago.
Over half of American small businesses are concerned with hiring enough employees and overall employee retention.
Employers of almost half of all private-sector workers in the country are small businesses, making them critical to expanding youth apprenticeship.

Sources:

U.S. House Committee on Small Business
Noel Ginsburg, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CareerWise in Denver, CO
Deborah Kobes, Senior Director Of Jobs for the Future
Shani Watkins, Director of West Sound Technical Skills Center in Bremerton, WA