A place for apprentices

Although most apprentices will not have Sir Alan Sugar pointing in their direction and shouting, ‘You're fired!', it seems that IT industry and channel companies are embracing the idea of apprenticeships in increasing numbers.

Yirrell: Apprenticeships may help out some school leavers near you

With most of us pulling out all the stops to keep our heads above water, and national reports of job losses on a daily basis, few spare a thought for the thousands of school and university leavers that will seek full-time employment over the summer.

I certainly do not envy them. ­ I had a hard enough time when I left university in 1996 and that was not during a full-blown recession. So what better way to join the workforce than by becoming an apprentice?

According to figures from The Data Service, the number of people who joined apprentice schemes increased by 15 per cent in the nine months to 30 April, with the number of over 25s signing up quadrupling during the same period.

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) figures claim 69 per cent of all apprenticeships take place in SMEs; and from our varied conversations with readers, it seems an increasing number of those are being offered within the channel.

Granted, some of the degrees taken these days are hardly encouraging -- ­ Mickey Mouse studies, anyone? ­ -- but there are still a lot of talented young people out there just itching to prove themselves and willing to work hard and learn fast.

Why not give them a chance?

Sara Yirrell is editor of CRN ­ [email protected]