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Press Release

Support apprentices now or face a skills shortage, warns Unite

15 April 2010

Unite’s Assistant General Secretary, Tony Burke, who will address the TUC Apprenticeship Conference tomorrow (Friday, 16 April) at Congress House, says:

“The question of apprenticeships along with the future skills needs of our country is a very important one and very important to Unite.

“Unite has welcomed the Government’s initiative on apprentices, particularly making apprenticeships a mainstream option for 16-18 year olds alongside other training and educational routes. However, we are not just talking about 16-18 year olds, we also need apprenticeships for older workers.

“However, we are concerned that the careers service and some schools don’t always push young people in the direction of apprenticeships, with an unfortunate view that apprenticeships particularly in manufacturing, are only on offer to 16 and 17 year olds wearing oversized overalls and working in ‘old industries’ - of course this isn’t the case.

“One of the main problems now for manufacturing is that with job losses and lay-offs the skill base of the country has been dissipated. We now have a disappearing skills base and if you take an area such as the West Midlands, the looming skills shortage will hamper the county’s recovery.

“We need to reskill unemployed workers and not use them as a cheap alternative workforce and at the same time we need to replenish skilled workforce with bright young apprentices to ensure success for the future.”



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