National Apprenticeship Week will run from 5th – 9th March 2018 and this year’s theme is ‘Apprenticeships Work.’ The fiveday celebration of further education success aims to showcase how Apprenticeships work for individuals, employers, the community and the wider economy. In line with this, Qube Learning wanted to share from their own experience how the Logistics sector can stand to benefit from the Apprenticeship-Levy.
Unlike some other sectors, Logistics is rife with training opportunities across a broad range of departments, which should be a major motivational factor for employers when mobilising their Levy-funded provision. The scope is not limited to but includes the Warehouse (Supply Chain Warehouse Operative, Supply Chain Practitioner), Office (Business Administrator, Customer Service Practitioner, Team Leader/Supervisor), Deliveries (Larges Goods Vehicle Driver) and Senior Management (Operations/Departmental Manager) divisions. That’s not to mention the many niche Standards that are building momentum within the sector, including Project Management and Facilities Management; Indeed, when Qube Learning were awarded the agreement to provide Apprenticeship training for the world’s leading logistics company, the first Standard they wanted us to deliver was Data Analyst.
When customers start to look at it objectively, they will realise they likely employ hundreds of would-be Apprentices who stand to benefit from the personal development Apprenticeships can offer.
Another key selling point is that the Levy can be used not only to raise the skills of existing staff but to attract new talent to the business. Consider, as recently as December 2017, the Freight Transport Association and Road Haulage Association estimated that the UK is currently 45,000 – 60,000 Large Goods Vehicle (LGV) drivers short, and this could rise to 150,000 drivers by 2020. This is primarily down to an ageing workforce and shockingly only 2% of the LGV workforce is aged under 25 years. The Levy provides an exciting opportunity for employers to plug this gap in the market by recruiting LGV apprentices, who will undertake a programme a little over a year in duration and become a fully qualified LGV driver at the end, whilst the employer reaps the rewards of expanding its diminishing workforce. With such possibilities afoot, it’s little wonder that a recently commissioned government study reported that 75% of employers felt Apprenticeships improved the quality of their product or service.
With such unique needs facing the sector, it’s of paramount importance that providers align their provision with the needs of the organisation rather than trying to shoehorn in existing programmes to the customer’s learning & development plans, which will enable businesses to get the best use from their new budget.
The best businesses Qube Learning work with within the Logistics sector do recognise the Levy as a useful training budget which is not enforced but instead gifted to them, to develop existing staff and meet skills-shortages.
There’s simply no better time to invest in Apprenticeship training.
QUBE LEARNING
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