Workforce Development Issues: Pre-Apprenticeship Leads the Way

By Michael I. Callanan, Executive Director, Electrical Training ALLIANCE

In the upcoming weeks, we expect to hear an announcement from the Department of Labor that it is making $100 million in funding available to support the development and implementation of apprenticeship programs. How should that funding be allocated? I believe, for two reasons, that this is a critical question that deserves careful consideration.

First, as I have discussed in previous articles, there has been a recent resurgence of interest in apprenticeship. From Vice President Biden to Secretary of Labor Perez to President Obama, we have seen an increased focus on how apprenticeship can play a larger role in our overall workforce-development strategy. This attention deserves a fitting response and the correct allocation of funds or our shining moment may be lost.

Second, the best chance we have to capitalize on this moment is to allocate these funds directly to the training of young people who are interested in entering apprenticeship programs. Whether the sector is construction, maintenance, manufacturing or health care, we must use these funds in a way that directly connects men and women to middle-class career paths that can change the course of their lives and, at the same time, help ensure that we have a pool of highly qualified craft workers to meet the demands of the 21st century.

I believe that apprenticeship is the best means to accomplish this lofty goal. But having spent the past 10 years as the Executive Director of an organization that oversees approximately 300 program sponsors, I know first-hand that the task is not easy. Many young men and women lack the skills and abilities needed to complete a comprehensive apprenticeship program. Fortunately, we have an important tool at our disposal: pre-apprenticeship programs.

While pre-apprenticeship programs come in all shapes and sizes, they are united in their commitment to increasing the likelihood that individuals who participate in the program will be successful in the formal apprenticeship program. In 2012, the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor issued Training and Employment Notice 13-12 that defines a quality pre-apprenticeship program. By definition, quality pre-apprenticeship programs need to have a “documented partnership with at least one, if not more, Registered Apprenticeship program(s).” The pre-apprenticeship programs should have an approved training and curriculum, and embrace strategies for long-term success.

Too often, as I have heard Secretary of Labor Perez say, we simply rely on a strategy of “train and pray.” We provide the training and pray that the individual will find employment later. With the availability of the new funding, we have an opportunity to change the game. Let’s work to ensure that every dollar is spent promoting apprenticeship the old-fashioned way—by providing eager young people with the chance to participate in pre-apprenticeship programs that are directly connected to a Registered Apprenticeship program. This earn-while-you-learn model is one of the best means we have to guarantee these individuals a direct, viable connection to a middle-class career pathway. Now that’s something worth praying for! MT

mcallanan@electricaltrainingalliance.org

The Electrical Training Alliance is a nonprofit organization that draws upon diverse partnerships within the electrical industry, all committed and devoted to training the next generation of electrical workers. It consists of 300 joint apprenticeship and training centers in the U.S. and Canada, over 100 electrical-industry manufacturers and training partners and a network of public and private educational institutions.