Short of skilled hands, companies turn to apprentices
shortage of skilled labour in the frontline or blue-collar workforce has prompted companies across sectors such as industrial/manufacturing, electrical/electronics, NBFCs, retail, ecommerce and FMCG to hire more hands with class X/XII qualifications, and then train the apprentices in specific skill sets to make them «jobs-ready». This is leading to an all-time high demand for apprentices, as per a study by TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship, shared exclusively with ET.
The net apprenticeship outlook — or the willingness among employers to engage apprentices — for H2 (Oct-Mar) has soared to record high with 75% of the organisations planning to onboard apprentices versus 41% in the same period in 2021.
A whopping majority — 70% of the employers — engaged apprentices in H1 of this financial year.
The findings across 700 companies show about 47% of firms intend to have 10% of their total workforce as apprentices in the next 6 months, while a substantial 31% are currently maintaining an apprenticeship share of 5-10% within their organisation.
«There has been a phenomenal growth in three years in the intent of companies to engage apprentices,» said Sumit Kumar, Chief Business Officer, TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship. The second half of the fiscal will see the highest ever engagement of youngsters as apprentices by companies across sectors such as automobile, electrical, retail, NBFC, etc, he added.
Apart from Class X/XII degree holders, there is also a rising demand for graduate apprenticeships in roles such as electrical and electronics engineer, mechanical engineer and automobile engineer.
Among companies that are betting big on apprenticeship are the likes of Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Motherson Sumi, Minda,
