Representatives from about 50 employers got a lesson Thursday in establishing apprentice programs for their companies, especially "white-collar" jobs that haven't historically been associated with apprenticeship programs.
Thursday's forum at the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub in North Little Rock introduced employers to a formal U.S. Department of Labor registered apprentice program designed to connect job seekers open to learning new skills with employers needing qualified workers in information technology, health care, advanced manufacturing and other fields.
"They don't think of a white-collar job as an apprentice," said Lonnie Emard, national director of IT & Cyber Apprenticeships Advanced Automation Consulting.
Apprenticeship programs use a mix of classroom study and paid on-the-job training. The registered apprenticeship program offers employers help in developing a program to meet their needs and money to defray the costs.
The Arkansas Department of Workforce Services, which helped present Thursday's forum, is using a $4 million U.S. Labor Department grant to create 600 registered apprenticeships within five years, according to Mark McManus, project lead for business services and outreach at the state agency.
The agency already has created more than 200 registered apprenticeships under the grant, he said.
Arkansas has about 6,000 registered apprentices in 117 job areas. While most of the registered apprenticeships created are in traditional job sectors associated with apprenticeships, such as plumbers and carpenters, some are in new fields, such as information technology, health care and advanced manufacturing.
"We are trying to expand people's idea of what apprenticeships are," said Lee Price, state director for the apprenticeship office of the U.S. Labor Department.
Apprenticeship programs aren't the be-all, end-all for job training, but in a tight labor market as exists now, they have to be an essential component, he said.
"We can't produce a skilled workforce without apprenticeships being a part of the equation," Price said. "It offers a talent development strategy using an 'earn and learn' model."
Apprenticeship has advantages for both the employee and the employer.
For employees, they can earn wages while acquiring a new skill set without building up student debt, Price said.
The employees also can see the investment employers make in their careers and, studies show, that in turn develops loyalty to the company, according to McManus. For employers, apprenticeships reduce turnover, he said.
The latest company to sign on is First Orion, a technology company that develops caller identification and blocking technology for mobile telephones.
"We have a hard time trying to find our skill set in Arkansas and the rest of the country," said Libbi Whitehurst, head of people operations at First Orion and a participant in Thursday's forum. "The CEO [Charles Morgan] and I decided we would grow our own talent."
The company has graduated three software engineers from its three-month apprenticeship program for the iPhone operating system, she said.
First Orion has another three software engineers in a similar program for the Android operating system, she said. An apprenticeship program in data science and engineering is expected to begin early next year.
The program uses a mix of self-directed study and working with mentors both on technology and in the office where they will be working.
A degree from a four-year institution of higher learning is preferred but anyone who enters the First Orion apprenticeship program must have a "basic understanding of coding" and pass a pre-employment assessment, Whitehurst said.
Formalizing the apprenticeships under the Labor Department program helps, she said. Developing the training programs require resources, focus and time, according to Whitehurst.
"But once it is built, it is easily sustainable," she said.
Glenn Sergeant, executive director of the Center for Workforce Innovation and Strategic Economic Public-Private Partnerships at Philander Smith College, attended the forum seeking more visibility for the school's pre-apprenticeship coding academy, which he said is a free 12-week program aimed at young adults.
"We look at this as one step toward an apprenticeship," he said.
Business on 11/16/2018