Hays Travel to recruit one apprentice per branch

Hays Travel is hoping to recruit more apprentices than it did last year, targeting “one for every branch”.

The UK’s largest independent agency chain, with 157 branches, has employed apprentices since the 1980s, including 146 new recruits in 2017.

When added to those already on the programme, there were 242 apprentices on Hays’ books last year after 3,145 applications. The agency was recently voted among the top 100 companies for employing apprentices.

So far this year, there have been 983 applications and roles are available as travel consultants and in head office roles such as customer service, marketing and IT.

Carole Hodgson, the apprentices delivery manager, said: “Every year we’ve seen a huge number of applications. We firmly believe in the apprenticeship programme and what apprentices can do for Hays Travel.

“This year we want to recruit the same or more than last year. One for every branch.”

Hodgson, who joined Hays as an apprentice in June 1988, said the agency is looking for “enthusiasm, passion and personality” in its apprentices and vowed to help them progress their careers.

Applicants are asked to attend an assessment day where they present a holiday as part of the recruitment process. Open days have also been arranged for early March, around National Apprenticeship Week.

She added: “Apprentices bring new, fresh ideas, especially in evolving areas like digital marketing.

“We find apprentices quickly progress into our rising stars and management positions. Progression rates are really high.

“Hays Travel has expanded hugely, and we are continuing that expansion. Having apprentices who have been with us from the start of their careers helps us with that.”

Offering progression is key to retaining the apprentices, Hodgson added, as well as saying that it creates a talent pool for the whole industry.

“These are young people who want to explore and see the world. We find that apprentices learn a lot at Hays Travel, sometimes move on to be reps or work for airlines, and then return to us later in their careers,” she said.

To find more details, click here to visit Hays Travel’s career page.

First seen here.

The post Hays Travel to recruit one apprentice per branch appeared first on feCompare.co.uk.

source https://fecompare.co.uk/hays-travel-recruit-one-apprentice-per-branch/

Does the Apprenticeship Levy need fixing?

As the levy celebrates its first birthday in April, we take a look at some of the teething problems it has faced and ways in which it can be successfully leveraged.

One of the government’s flagship skills policies, the Apprenticeship Levy, celebrates its first birthday in April. But despite the great hopes at the launch, the programme has yet to find much love from businesses – indeed a growing number of corporates are complaining that the structure and administration of the levy are proving counterproductive.

When skills minister Nick Boles launched the levy in April, much was made of the impact it would have on investment levels in skills training across a range of sectors.

Boles recently told FE Week: “I’ve always been quite interested about the idea of hypothecated taxation and whether you can get greater acceptance on the part of people paying the tax if they know what it’s going towards.”

“Politically, it fell on the very fertile ground because the chancellor and the PM felt that, in a sense, this was the time to cash in our chips with business.”

“So when I presented the idea of the levy to George [Osborne] first, I could see, immediately, his eyes lit up. He thought, ‘now that’s great’ because it solves how we get the three million and how we pay for it.”

First seen here.

The post Does the Apprenticeship Levy need fixing? appeared first on feCompare.co.uk.

source https://fecompare.co.uk/apprenticeship-levy-need-fixing/

Fall in apprenticeships may force ‘radical rethink’ of UK policy

The government is under renewed pressure to implement a “radical rethink” of apprenticeships after a near 27% fall in the number taking up trainee posts in the last quarter of 2017.

The number starting apprenticeships dropped to 114,000 between August and October, down from 155,700 in the same period in 2016. That followed a 59% drop in the previous three months after the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in April last year.

The biggest drop came in “intermediate” apprenticeships, the basic level, which dropped 38% to 52,000. The highest level of apprenticeships – known as degree apprenticeships – rose nearly 27% to 11,600. Schemes for adult apprentices were worse affected than for those young people, falling by just over 30% compared with 20%.

Critics say employers are being deterred from creating apprenticeship posts because of the increased costs and complexity of the new scheme.

Businesses with a payroll of more than £3m are charged 0.5% of their payroll towards the apprenticeship levy. A fifth of training must be carried out away from the workplace and employers with 50 or more staff must contribute 10% of the cost.

Seamus Nevin, head of policy research at the Institute of Directors (IoD), said the government risked failing to meet its target of 3 million people starting apprenticeships by 2020.

“Clearly the new system has failed to take off,” he said. “The levy can be difficult to navigate and many employers still struggle to comprehend how the system is meant to work.”

The IoD said more than one in 10 of its mostly smaller company members paying the levy now viewed it as an extra tax and could no longer afford to offer any apprenticeships.

The government is no longer fully funding apprenticeships, particularly for young people. The cuts have been heavily criticised. Mark Dawe of the Association of Employment and Learning Providers said: “For a government committed to improving social mobility, ministers have to be really concerned about the continued drop in starts for both young people and at lower levels.”

The association wants all apprenticeships for 16- to 18-year-olds to be fully funded by the government.

Verity Davidge, head of education and skills policy at EEF, the manufacturers’ organization, said: “Today’s figures should act as a wake-up call to the government which has failed to act on industry’s growing concerns around the apprenticeship levy.

“This worrying trend is not just hampering employers’ ability to get the skills their business needs, it is taking away invaluable opportunities for the next generation to undertake training and secure a future job. It is clear the apprenticeship levy and wider reforms aren’t working and need a radical rethink.”

Neil Carberry, managing director of people policy at the CBI, said it wanted the levy to evolve into a “flexible skills levy” that would fund a broader array of training courses.

“Today’s drop in apprenticeship starts remains alarming and proves again that the apprenticeship levy isn’t yet working for businesses, apprentices, and the economy. A fresh approach is needed to make skills reforms work,” he said.

The government said it remained committed to 3m apprenticeships after signing up more than 1.2 million new trainees since May 2015.

Anne Milton, the minister for apprenticeships and skills, said: “The last year has been a period of significant change. It will take time for employers to adjust.

“But we must not lose sight of why we introduced our reforms in the first place – to put quality at the heart of this programme, and put control in the hands of employers.”

Workers’ rights groups have suggested that the number of apprenticeship starts is falling because the levy is weeding out the use of low-quality apprenticeships. They believe employers were offering minimal training as a way to source cheap labor because the minimum wage for apprentices is below the national minimum wage. The Unite union has raised concerns about the lowest grade of apprenticeships and whether they are beneficial.

First seen here.

The post Fall in apprenticeships may force ‘radical rethink’ of UK policy appeared first on feCompare.co.uk.

source https://fecompare.co.uk/fall-apprenticeships-may-force-radical-rethink-uk-policy/

DCCI chief: Is it time to rethink the apprenticeship levy?

May 2017 saw the introduction of the apprenticeship levy. Designed to help the government meet its target of three million apprenticeship starts in five years from May 2015, this new tax was introduced for larger businesses with a payroll of £3million plus, requiring them to pay a levy that they then can draw on to support the cost of apprenticeships in their business. Businesses with a payroll of £3m plus must pay a level of 0.5 per cent of their payroll costs over £3m less a £15,000 allowance.

There has been widespread negative press coverage regarding the levy and it hasn’t proved to be popular with many employers. It’s been especially unpopular with those employers who have invested in and supported the apprenticeship programme for many years as a key part of their recruitment and training programmes and the levy is essentially another form of taxation. A 2016 Dorset Chamber survey of 20 Dorset businesses paying the levy revealed many were unhappy with the levy and saw little benefit from the scheme in terms of incentivising them to create new apprenticeship vacancies. It’s also been reported many employers are simply converting existing staff on to apprenticeship programmes as opposed to creating new apprenticeship vacancies and are seeking ways to claim the levy back on other training. Businesses have also complained at the complexities in using the levy to pay for training.

What is concerning is the major fall in numbers starting apprenticeship schemes; new starts in the period August to October this year stood at 114,000, down from 155,700 in the same period in 2016, a drop of 27 per cent. Government data showed that in the May to June quarter, covering the period when the levy came into effect, apprenticeship starts plunged by 59 per cent in the previous three months at 69,800. Critics say employers are being deterred from creating apprenticeship posts because of increased costs and the complexity of the new scheme.

Many employers and business groups have spoken out against the levy. “The levy is nothing but a tax,” said Sir John Timpson, chairman of Timpson. “The only way to get money back is a tortuous process of changing your training programme to fit government guidelines.” The EEF have described the situation as “at breaking point”. Research by the British Chambers of Commerce found nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of levy-paying firms have no understanding of the apprenticeship levy or don’t know how their company will respond to it. Sixty-six per cent of these companies haven’t taken any direct action to use the funds or don’t know about it. For over half of levy-paying businesses, it represents an added cost, with 56 per cent not expecting to recover any or only a portion of their payment, compared to 36 per cent who expect to recover all or more of their payment. Employers are stating they find the levy costly, a blunt instrument and complex.

Our view is employers should of course be encouraged and importantly incentivised to invest in the apprenticeship programme. We also know apprenticeship providers in Dorset are doing their best to advise businesses on how to benefit from the levy. Apprenticeships offer businesses a tremendous opportunity to recruit and train the skilled workforce we need now and in the future. With apprenticeship programmes now ranging from intermediate to degree level covering all industries, they offer a huge range of qualifications and we would encourage all businesses to embrace the apprenticeship programme. However, it would seem the levy is not working for many businesses and perhaps it’s time for the government to reconsider its plans on encouraging employers to invest in apprenticeships and come up with a more business-friendly approach.

First seen here.

The post DCCI chief: Is it time to rethink the apprenticeship levy? appeared first on feCompare.co.uk.

source https://fecompare.co.uk/dcci-chief-time-rethink-apprenticeship-levy/

Apprenticeship decline could spell extinction for university alternative

I nearly choked on my bacon sarnie the other morning when I read about the apprenticeship decline, which revealed the amount of starting apprenticeships dropped to 114,000 between August and October last year. That’s down from 155,700 for the same period in 2016.

Of course, it wasn’t looking good for this latest set of numbers as it followed the massive 59 percent drop in the previous three months, which unfortunately came after the launch of the Apprenticeship Levy.

If we dial things back a few years to when George Osborne and David Cameron declared the government would help create three million new apprenticeships, I honestly thought the tide had started to turn.

Coming on the back of Tony Blair’s failed “education, education, education” mantra and a “university at all costs” teaching system, it seemed that someone, somewhere in the halls of power had remembered how important apprenticeships are to the country.

After all, work, in most of its many forms, is a practical thing. Whether it’s installing a heating system, building a bridge or preparing a set of accounts, most jobs involve tasks that relate to that vocation that often can’t be learned in the classroom.

Having young people train in a business, in a structured and assessed way, is a common sense route to creating a skilled workforce for this country. It’s also a great way to solve youth unemployment, social issues…I could go on. And, to be fair, I usually do, because apprenticeships are vital to our future prosperity.

That’s why, after all my conversations with the government over recent years, pushing the need to raise the value and perception of vocational training, I was initially in favor of the Apprenticeship Levy.

So many companies have failed to invest in training that it seemed like the only way to get their attention and to focus their minds on training young people was to hit them in the pocket.

The government had already done it with pensions making putting a few quid into a pot a statutory obligation for those without one, so why not do the same thing with training.

Unfortunately, while the man in the street will begrudgingly accept that a bit of their take-home pay is now being put in a pension, big businesses are a lot more begrudging, thus we’re seeing an apprenticeship decline.

As a result, they have squirmed out of their responsibility to apprenticeships by using their budgets to train existing staff or are writing it off as a tax.

The worst impact of the Apprenticeship Levy has been on those businesses it was designed to help – SMEs.

In simple terms, the money put in by the big firms, through their 0.5 percent contribution from their £3m plus wage bills, can be accessed to help small businesses take on apprentices they couldn’t afford.

On the face of it, that makes sense, but it hasn’t worked out that way. The paperwork is too much for some small companies while some of those who already had schemes in place have scrapped them due to the difficulty of making them compliant with the Levy structure.

It feels like the government has promised a slap-up five-course meal, got confused in the kitchen and come out with a single slice of toast that’s soggy and not at all appetizing.

It’s a bit of a mess and unless big companies fulfill their apprentice obligations and small firms can access the funds in a more straightforward way, the apprenticeship decline spells a danger of dying out.

Simplifying the system and not allowing big companies to avoid their responsibilities, will help rescue the apprenticeship decline and prevent it from the waste bin of history.

People like myself have campaigned tirelessly to raise the standing of apprenticeships and the constant stream of young people applying to companies like Pimlico Plumbers proves that kids see the value in them.

But, as Alice Thompson so rightly wrote in The Times last week, there is a snobbery around apprenticeships, mainly among some parents and the establishment, which see them as a step down from a university education.

Tell that to one of my £100,000-a-year apprenticeship-trained plumbers!

But these guys and girls will become an endangered species if we’re not careful, which will not only be exceptionally sad, but the apprenticeship decline will also be extremely damaging to the economy.

First seen here.

The post Apprenticeship decline could spell extinction for university alternative appeared first on feCompare.co.uk.

source https://fecompare.co.uk/apprenticeship-decline-spell-extinction-university-alternative/

“Renishaw” in search for 50 apprentices

Renishaw is recruiting for a record number of 50 apprentices across its Gloucestershire and South Wales sites.

The company offers an award-winning scheme, where apprentices gain nationally recognized qualifications, some up to degree level, alongside on-the-job experience. Renishaw’s apprentices earn while they learn, benefitting from a competitive salary and benefits package.

Applications are now open until Friday, March 9th, 2018, the end of National Apprenticeship Week.

The Gloucestershire-based technical and manufacturing schemes require applicants to be GCSE qualified. They will commence an advanced apprenticeship through attendance at Gloucestershire Engineering Training, with most going on to HNC and HND studies.

For the South Wales apprenticeship scheme, applicants are required to be in the first year of an Engineering BTEC or EAL Level 3 and must have a PEO Level 2 in Engineering. They will study the second year of their qualification, via Bridgend College, with most apprentices undertaking an HNC and HND level qualification.

Apprentices then move onto rotating placements in different sections of the company. The opportunity for possible continued study towards a degree exists for apprentices who demonstrate future potential.

Renishaw also offers degree-level apprenticeships in software and embedded electronic systems design, open to young people who have completed their A Levels. From the first year, apprentices on these programmes will study for their degree alongside working on projects at Renishaw, gaining theoretical knowledge that can be applied to hands-on projects.

Embedded electronic systems design apprentices work towards a BEng (Hons) in Electronic and Computer Engineering, accredited by the University of the West of England (UWE). Software engineering apprentices study for a BSc (Hons) in Digital and Technology Solutions in partnership with the University of Exeter, one of two Russell Group universities offering this degree apprenticeship in 2018.

Chris Pockett, head of communications at Renishaw, said: “An apprenticeship at Renishaw gives you the opportunity to work on ground-breaking engineering projects. As well as gaining hands-on experience in innovative and exciting industries, our apprentices have access to expert training and support, to continually build on the skills they are learning as part of their studies.”

For its Gloucestershire-based headquarters, Renishaw is searching for 20 technical apprentices, 10 manufacturing apprentices, 10 degree-level software apprentices and four degree-level embedded electronic systems design apprentices. The company is also recruiting for six manufacturing apprentices at its Miskin site.

Check out the Renishaw website: www.renishaw.com/apprentice.

Content first is seen here.

The post “Renishaw” in search for 50 apprentices appeared first on feCompare.co.uk.

source https://fecompare.co.uk/renishaw-search-50-apprentices/

Cornwall to host apprentice games

Cornwall is to host a ground-breaking event for apprentices and their employers, which will test them in a day of challenges and competition.

Image Source

The inaugural Apprenticeship Games will pitch companies against each other in a bid to find the region’s ‘Apprentice Team of the Year’, who will be handed the games’ specially designed apprenticeship torch.

Taking place at Cornwall College St Austell during National Apprenticeship Week 2018 in March, teams from the South West’s leading employers will compete in a series of challenges to showcase their skills.

Group director of development at The Cornwall College Group and head of Cornwall College Business Sally Foard said the idea was to create a fun and engaging event that ‘cut through the noise created by the new apprenticeship structures’.

The day will also be hosting a networking lunch to give businesses and sponsors the opportunity to engage and share their stories.

First seen here.

The post Cornwall to host apprentice games appeared first on feCompare.co.uk.

source https://fecompare.co.uk/cornwall-host-apprentice-games/