Next Gen Makers is set to launch the UK’s first Engineering Apprenticeship specific online Jobs Board.
The Next Gen Makers ‘Engineering Apprenticeship Finder’ will launch in March 2021, initially focusing on promoting Engineering Apprenticeship vacancies in the West Midlands region.
Manufacturers and partner training providers of Next Gen Makers will be able to upload apprenticeship vacancies to the Next Gen Makers Engineering Apprenticeship Finder Jobs Board.
These vacancies will then be promoted via targeted Engineering Careers Webinars delivered by Next Gen Makers to final year students within their network of 35 High Schools/ Sixth Forms and 7 FE Colleges.
“We’ve been running our Engineering Careers Webinars and Workshops now for 2 years, reaching thousands of final year students at over 35 High Schools and 7 FE Colleges. I can honestly say, there is no shortage of young people that want to come into Engineering. The issue is that they do not get to hear about enough Apprenticeship opportunities” comments Adam Tipper, Managing Director of Next Gen Makers.
Adam continues: “More and more frequently, tutors and careers leaders, were asking the same question; ‘[student name] is interested in Engineering Apprenticeships, where should he/she look?’. Naturally, we’d signpost to the Government website and also the websites of our partner Colleges and Training Providers, however it was clear that more young people would be successful in finding and applying for Engineering Apprenticeships if they were directed to one ‘go to’ place”.
According to a government study, for the UK engineering sector to gain enough candidates to reduce the skills shortage, it would need around 186,000 new skilled recruits each year until 2024.
Next Gen Makers is an innovative initiative which launched in the West Midlands two years ago, with the aim of making it easier for engineering and manufacturing businesses to recruit engineering apprentices. So far, over 50 SME manufacturing and engineering firms in the West Midlands have reaped the benefits.
“Clearly, with the increasing skills shortage and ageing demographic of our manufacturing workforce, particularly in the West Midlands, the status quo is not working” Tipper continues.
“We regularly hear from manufacturers that lament a lack of choice in applicants for their Engineering Apprenticeships or say that they struggle to attract young people to their roles. Yet at the same time we also see hundreds if not thousands of young people each year that are interested in starting a career in Engineering, but that do not get to hear about Apprenticeship opportunities. Many then choose to go off to University or find employment elsewhere, so are lost to the sector.
“We see our Apprenticeship Finder Jobs Board as the platform to bridge that void and bring those two audiences together. Industry simply cannot afford to let thousands of interested and qualified young people continue to not find Engineering Apprenticeship opportunities. Ultimately, we all want to see a strong future for UK manufacturing, but to deliver that we need change”.