Evaluating International Apprenticeship Schemes and the Global Covid-19 Skills Gap

@FitchLearning Evaluates International Government #Apprenticeship Schemes 

Fitch Learning today (10 Aug) announced that it is evaluating Government apprenticeship schemes and the booming Covid-19 skills gap globally in order to fully support international developments and national employment initiatives as part of its financial services training programmes.

Across the globe, The United Nations (U.N.) is supporting countries to prepare assessments of the socio-economic impacts of Covid-19. 

The U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week said increasing financing for education must be given priority:

“The decisions that governments and partners take now will have lasting impact on hundreds of millions of young people, and on the development prospects of countries for decades to come.”

In the UK, The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, announced in his ‘mini budget’ on 8 July, a series of Government initiatives designed to create more government-funded apprenticeship and training opportunities for young people in the UK. These incentives include bonuses of up to £2,000 for businesses and other organisations who can offer new apprenticeships and traineeships for the youth of Britain.

The European Commission recently said it is taking action to give young people all possible opportunities to develop their full potential to shape the future of the EU. It called upon its member States to invest at least €22 billion in youth employment to combat the structural skills gaps in key job markets. Its Youth Employment Support package includes a renewed impetus for apprenticeships. The renewed European Alliance for Apprenticeships will foster national apprenticeships coalitions and focus on the economic sectors that will be on the frontline of the transition to a climate neutral Europe.

In the United States, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently stated the awarding of grants to 28 public-private apprenticeship partnerships totaling nearly $100 million through the Apprenticeships: Closing the Skills Gap grant program. The program will support the training of more than 92,000 individuals in new or expanded apprenticeship programs for a wide range of employers, particularly in areas like information technology and AI.

In Singapore, the Government unveiled The SGUnited $2 billion Jobs and Skills Package to create close to 100,000 opportunities for mid-career workers and fresh graduates affected by the Covid-19 economic slowdown and these include some key financial services roles, such as finance analysts.

Commenting on the evaluation, Andreas Karaiskos, CEO, Fitch Learning, said:

‘Covid-19 is causing degradation at the fabric of our societies, so sustainable growth plans are urgently required for apprenticeships to fill the skills gaps that increasingly exist in the finance sector. We believe that this global pandemic may lead to a lost generation of young workers in this industry, as it’s difficult for young people to get motivated and think constructively about their futures now, particularly if they come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds – so we are determined to help them start their careers with our accredited training programmes. We are also assisting unemployed work returners or mid-career professionals to refresh their skills and build sustainable future career paths within financial services.”