Why Apprenticeships Are Key To Closing The AI Skills Gap

Last month, the UK Government unveiled an ambitious plan that aims to strengthen the UK’s global competitiveness in AI development and adoption.

It was encouraging to see the plan address the AI skills gap, an issue we cannot ignore if we want to reap the benefits of AI across the economy. Training is fundamental to equipping the future workforce with the skills our country needs to master technologies such as AI and quantum computing. Apprenticeships, which offer a combination of education and on-the-job training, play a vital role in addressing this national challenge.

Apprenticeships aren’t new – IBM’s first cohort started in 2010 – but is this highly effective form of learning getting the attention it deserves?

Drawing upon more than 15 years leading IBM’s Graduate, Apprenticeship and Student Programmes, here are three reasons why I believe more UK companies should invest in apprenticeships:

Increased Productivity

Improving productivity and growth is top of mind for the UK government. According to a recent study from the European House Ambrosetti , to maintain current GDP growth, the UK will need annual productivity growth of at least 0.7%. Another recent study from McKinsey found the UK will need 1.1% of annual productivity growth between now and 2050 to maintain current living standards.
Work-based learning in the form of apprenticeships helps build a highly skilled, productive workforce that will contribute to this growth. The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) found that apprentices qualified in 2019 are expected to add £7bn to the economy by the end of 2029. The CMI analysis also found that each business using higher-level management apprenticeships saw average productivity gains of £7,000 per apprentice over the course of the programme.

When our degree apprentices graduate after their three- or four-year programmes, they are effectively ‘new graduates’ – yet, they already have a wealth of experience and relevant skills. This makes them a critical client-facing resource, generating higher returns on investment than untrained university graduates, virtually from day one.

Higher Employee Retention

Many employers offer apprenticeships to attract new talent, as well as retain and reskill existing staff to progress. Better retention rates provide better returns on investment in apprenticeships, while helping to reduce skills shortages.

Government research shows that 80% of employers who hire apprentices report high levels of staff retention. This has certainly been our experience at IBM. The IBM UK Early Professional Apprenticeship Programme has achieved a 90% retention rate since 2017 and a 100% pass rate at end point assessment.
I hear from apprentices that retention is an important success factor, often making them feel invested in and keen to remain, earning as they learn. This means it is important for employers to consider offering permanent employment to apprentices from day one.

Relevant Skills and Knowledge

According to the Ambrosetti study, it is estimated that over 43 million workers across the UK will need upskilling by 2030, of which 11 million rely on non-traditional educational pathways, like online courses and digital credentials.

Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours

Apprenticeships are structured to cover the knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) required to be successful in the role, business and industry in which they operate. These KSBs form the basis of an apprentice’s on-and-off-the-job training, after which they must show they can apply them, alongside the necessary mindset and ‘soft skills’.

Running IBM UK’s Early Professional Programmes for 15 years has taught us that our curriculum must stay relevant to our clients’ business challenges to remain valuable. In the past year, we have integrated more AI elements into our curriculum, for both T level students and apprentices. By elevating the importance of these skills, we’re preparing our apprentices to work seamlessly with generative AI systems, which are quickly becoming central to how organisations operate.

It’s also important to innovate the way your apprentices learn. We recently gave our Early Professional Generative AI Community the chance to share their AI knowledge and expertise at an ‘AInset’ day – an INSET day for our management team (as we are an Employer Provider trainer) which was wholly based on AI. By flipping the traditional trainer/learner dynamic, we fostered a collaborative learning environment that empowered everyone to understand AI’s incredible potential.

Jenny Taylor MBE, UK Lead of Early Professional Programmes, IBM