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Andre Jones, a recent university graduate, spent months job hunting before enrolling in an IT apprenticeship program that resulted in him being fully certified and embarking on a successful career. Ta. George Forrest, an Army veteran, completed a diesel technician apprenticeship program that helped him transition from military to civilian life. Alison Van Houten quit her job as a speech therapist and switched careers to become a woodworking specialist, solely for the sake of an apprenticeship.
These are just a few of the dozens of apprenticeship success stories advertised on the federal government’s Apprenticeship USA website. Unfortunately, the Biden administration’s new proposals threaten to add red tape, additional costs and bureaucratic burdens to apprenticeship programs.
The Department of Labor quietly released a nearly 800-page proposal to regulate apprenticeships just before Christmas. Between the holidays and the busy start of the new year, businesses, industry groups, state agencies and others began sounding the alarm, but the proposal was largely ignored by the public.
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All signs point to the administration wanting to complete this rule quickly, despite its complexity, jeopardizing the success and even viability of apprenticeship programs. Most telling, labor secretaries and workforce development officials in Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Virginia banded together to discuss whether this rule would curb apprenticeship growth in their states. He expressed his concerns.
Apprenticeships are a great way for young workers to learn skills. But the Biden administration wants those costs to be too high for employers. (St. Petersburg)
Apprenticeships can be an incredible way to connect workers to in-demand jobs and meet a company’s workforce needs. This allows workers to get paid work experience and training instead of going to school for years without being paid or taking out loans to find a job. For companies, this creates a steady pipeline of talent with deep industry knowledge.
Unfortunately, the Biden administration’s new proposals risk relegating apprenticeships to a last resort for companies. While many parts of the proposed rule are concerning, three in particular represent some of the most problematic changes.
First, the proposed rules would remove flexibility from businesses operating apprenticeship programs and impose a one-size-fits-all structure. Currently, companies have three options when evaluating whether an apprentice has successfully completed a program. One is a time-based approach, where apprentices are required to complete a set number of hours of training. Competency-based approaches require apprentices to master specific skills. Or her combination of the two.
The new rules completely eliminate the competency-based approach and instead require all apprentices to complete a minimum of 2,000 hours of on-the-job training and 144 hours of classroom instruction. This not only increases costs for companies that can train apprentices in less time, but also demoralizes talented workers who can quickly gain competency.
Second, the rule requires companies to provide interns with the same benefits as full-time employees, including paid time off, medical care, and retirement benefits. Essentially, companies must provide apprentices with the same benefits as full-time employees without receiving the same level of work that full-time employees do.
An apprenticeship is essentially a training program that brings new employees up to the same skill level as full-time employees over time. As apprentices gain more skills and contribute more to the company, their benefits should increase accordingly. Providing benefits before learning skills is outdated.
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Finally, the regulation contains a number of provisions that are irrelevant to the training of skilled workers. Diversity, equity, and inclusion obligations for both businesses and states throughout the regulations add cost and administrative burden to all apprenticeship programs.
For small businesses, these additional requirements essentially make the cost of an apprenticeship prohibitive. Apprenticeships should focus on exactly one thing. It’s about training employees to gain the skills they need to find jobs and advance their careers.
Apprenticeships can be an incredible way to connect workers to in-demand jobs and meet a company’s workforce needs. This allows workers to get paid work experience and training instead of going to school for years without being paid or taking out loans to find a job. For companies, this creates a steady pipeline of talent with deep industry knowledge.
Apprenticeships have been an underutilized tool in the United States for decades, but the tide has been turning in recent years. The number of active apprenticeships in the United States has more than doubled since 2014, and many states, including Iowa, South Dakota, and Florida, are offering large sums of money to help companies start their own programs. We are investing funds.
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If the Biden administration has its way, this progress will come to a halt. The cost of the program would be too high for companies to want to start it, states would pursue other workforce development opportunities with less red tape, and workers wouldn’t have to jump through as much red tape. will find a job.
The Biden administration must repeal this disastrous proposed rule and replace it with policies that encourage more workers and businesses to pursue apprenticeships. Isn’t this just common sense?
