National Apprenticeship Week 2019 : BSRIA calls on industry to get involvedMarch 2019

With surveys repeatedly highlighting that the construction industry is not attracting enough talent to meet growing demand, and a recent BSRIA survey finding that 78 per cent of member companies were having trouble finding suitably qualified workers, BSRIA is calling for industry to make the most of National Apprenticeship Week 2019 (NAW2019). It runs from Monday 4th to Friday 8th March 2019 and brings together employers and apprentices from across England to celebrate the success of apprenticeships.

This annual celebration of apprenticeships will bring the whole apprenticeship community together to celebrate the impact of apprenticeships on individuals, employers and the economy.

The theme of NAW2019 is Blaze a Trail and showcases how apprenticeships work for individuals, employers, local communities and the wider economy.

As in previous years NAW2019 will see a range of activities and events being hosted across the country. Government wants to change the perceptions people have on what an apprenticeship is and who takes them up. Also, to encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to take up an apprenticeship.

Mike Lee, Training Manager, BSRIA, said:

“Apprenticeships attract wide-ranging talent and are important in ensuring industry is future proofed. They can help improve employee retention and, especially, bring fresh ideas and ways of working into the workplace.

There are more experienced people leaving the construction industry than new joiners coming in at age 18-25. An apprenticeship is a job with training and builds a foundation for a job for life!

BSRIA is calling for the emphasis to shift from one of being a ‘construction industry’ to one dedicated to the ‘built environment’. This will go a long way to change the image of our industry and make it a more attractive career proposition.

One of the major threats to house building is the skills shortage in construction. Industry recruitment is hard – there are simply not enough new trainees and graduates emerging from the system. Apprenticeships can help plug this gap.

Put simply: an apprenticeship can take you anywhere! Young people, engineers and entrepreneurs alike can rise to the top through traineeships and apprenticeships.”

The spirit of NAW 2019 fits in well with BSRIA’s INSPIRE Project which is working with local schools, national and local politicians and the media to promote STEM and change its perceptions. In the summer of 2018, BSRIA continued its tradition of building and sharing knowledge by recruiting a summer intern to give her experience in the professional workplace and undertake a perceptive report: available to download: Inspiring Tomorrow's Engineers which looks at the careers of some successful engineers at BSRIA, among its membership and in the industry.

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