During lockdown, the number of apprenticeships ending in redundancy have risen by two-thirds in comparison to figures from 2019.
According to figures gained by the BBC, the number of apprentices being made redundant has increased by two-thirds during lockdown compared to 2019.
Between March and July of this year, provisional data suggests that 1,033 people in England were withdrawn from apprenticeship programs due to being made redundant.
According to figures supplied by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, (ESFA), this is a sharp contrast in comparison to the same period in 2019 where only 615 apprentices were made redundant.
However, EFSA stated that the real numbers – which are to be released in late November – would be much higher than the provisional figures initially suggest. This is because the current numbers do not account for those who go on to complete their apprenticeship with a new employer or college. Additionally, some cases may not be registered as redundancies.
In July, the Chancellor announced an incentive for employers to take on apprentices. Mr. Sunak stated that between August 2020 and January 2021, businesses would receive a bonus for employers who chose to hire an apprentice. A firm that hired an apprentice between the ages of 16-24 would receive £2000 whilst organisations that hired an apprentice who was 25 years or older would receive £1500.
To this, Mark Dare, the chief executive of the Association of Employment and Learning providers, said:
[The Chancellor] clearly understands that apprenticeships work and give real jobs to young people with high quality training.
The scale of the challenge means that a financial incentive was an absolute necessity to get more employers on board and we believe that today’s announcements will help achieve that aim. As he said, we can’t lose this generation of young people.
However, despite this, the Sutton Trust, an educational charity which focusses on social mobility, reported that in October, 12 per cent of apprentices they surveyed had been made redundant. This was an increase from previous figures of 8 per cent in April. Furthermore, 8 per cent were on furlough whilst over a third (35 per cent) had been on furlough but were now back at work.
Speaking to the BBC, Gillian Keegan, the apprenticeships minister, said:
[Redundancy] is always a risk when you have got this sort of disruption in your economy so we were very focused very early on to do as much as we could to support and protect apprentices.
Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
