Employers likely to engage more apprentices in 2nd half of this yr: Report

A significant percentage of employers are likely to increase their apprentice pool in the H22022, as companies look at leveraging apprenticeships as the key source of talent, a report said

A significant percentage of employers are likely to increase their apprentice pool in the second half of 2022, as companies look at leveraging apprenticeships as the key source of talent, says a report.

According to the Apprenticeship Outlook Report for H2 (July-December 2022) by TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship, 77 per cent of employers are likely to increase their apprentice pool in H2 2022, which was 45 per cent in H2 2021.

The Apprenticeship Outlook Report is based on a survey among 789 employers covering 12 cities and 24 sectors capturing the appointment sentiment for the period HY (July to December) 2022.

The report further revealed that out of 24 sectors, employers across 12 sectors have improved their Net Apprenticeship Outlook (NAO) by 10 per cent or more for the time period.

The electrical and electronics sector tops the list, followed by aerospace & aviation and engineering & industrial, which are driving talent demand in the form of apprentices, it said.

In addition, two more new sectors including repair and maintenance services and power and energy have recorded a high net apprenticeship outlook.

The manufacturing sector also continues to witness positive momentum, driven by the emphasis on the PLI (Production-Linked Incentive) Scheme to boost manufacturing in India.

"As businesses see stronger return on investments, more employers are looking to leverage apprenticeships as the key source of talent. In fact, small businesses are the most optimistic and report a doubling of NAO for July-December 2022," TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship Chief Business Officer Sumit Kumar said.

Around 62 per cent employers believe that an increase in apprentices' engagement will facilitate their business growth, said the report.

Further, employers also believe that apprentice engagement will enable them with a more cost-efficient workforce and facilitate in creating a talent pool, it added.

"A lot of the positive optimism in the ecosystem is also driven by the push from the New Education Policy 2020 and the increase in academia-industry partnerships to boost degree apprenticeships. In fact, locations beyond tier I have also seen an increase in apprentice engagement," Kumar observed.

As per the report, non-metro cities have witnessed a surge in the adoption of apprenticeship in HY, as compared to metro cities.

Pune tops the NAO chart (80 per cent) for the current HY, followed by Kochi and Coimbatore, each with NAO (77 per cent), he said.

"However, for India to scale to its true potential of 10 million apprentices in 10 years, simplification, consolidation and formalisation is the need of the hour. While the industry has taken few steps towards simplification, there needs to be more aggressive efforts on this front, Kumar added.