Apprentice hiring: Over a third of firms are gender neutral, open to LGBTQ

Covid-19 pandemic impacts hiring, with more resilient sectors reporting strong sentiment even as others appear to have reduced appointments

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an impact in apprentice hiring, with more resilient sectors reporting strong sentiment even as others appear to have reduced appointments.

Healthcare and pharmaceuticals, and e-commerce were among the sectors leading in terms of net apprenticeship outlook, a sentiment indicator from the Apprenticeship Outlook Report that TeamLease Skills University launched on Tuesday. Others like travel and hospitality have shown a decline (see chart 1).

 

Many are looking to mitigate labour scarcity through creation of a local talent pool, according to Sumit Kumar, vice president – NETAP (National employability through apprenticeship programme), TeamLease Skill University, in a statement. Places with a promising outlook include key economic centres in the western and southern part of the country including cities like Ahmedabad and Hyderabad; in addition to major metros like Mumbai and Chennai; according to the report (see chart 2).

 

It said that 43 per cent of companies preferred male candidates while 23 per cent preferred female ones. Around 34 per cent of companies have expressed a gender neutral approach and openness to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community.

The analysis for the second half of the calendar year 2020 relied on historical data and a survey of companies across 18 sectors and 14 cities. A total of 600 employers were part of the survey.