Member Article

SME apprenticeships under threat due to cost-of-living burdens – causing more than half of UK SMEs to cancel apprenticeship opportunities

Vodafone Business launches apprenticeship fund to provide small businesses with £18,000 each to upskill their employees

More than half (51%) of UK SMEs have cancelled plans to take on an apprentice due to cost-of-living burdens 44% were unaware of financial support schemes that cover apprenticeships costs with half saying that would change their decision Findings come as Vodafone Business unveils a new partnership with Multiverse providing SMEs with an £18,000 apprenticeship funded by Vodafone

United Kingdom: More than half (51%) of UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have axed plans to take on apprentices because of the cost-of-living crisis, according to new research unveiled today by Vodafone Business.

Vodafone Business polled over 1,000 SME business leaders across the UK and found of the 60% of firms who have taken on apprentices in the past, a worrying 51% had axed their schemes because of soaring business costs including energy and transport.

The findings have been announced as Vodafone Business today launches a partnership with Multiverse, using funds from Vodafone’s Apprenticeship Levy, to upskill UK SME employees.

Vodafone Business will provide small businesses with £18,000 each to upskill existing employees via a pilot partnership with Multiverse. The scheme will see Vodafone offering SMEs the opportunity to apply for and secure a fully funded place on Multiverse’s Business Transformation Fellowship where UK employees will receive training and accreditation alongside their current roles.

The UK government introduced the apprenticeship levy in 2017. Organisations with a salary bill in excess of £3 million must put 0.5% of their total wage costs into the apprenticeship levy which is uses to fund apprentices or equivalent work-based learning programmes across critical disciplines such as cloud, Cyber, data DevOps, digital marketing, software development, and more.

More work is required to educate SMEs on the options available to them regarding apprenticeships opportunities; as 44% of SMEs were unaware of the various financial support packages available to them via third-party schemes, with the Government and larger businesses helping to pick up the tab to enable small businesses to bring on new staff or provide training opportunities to upskill their workforce, which could help to fill other roles within the business and better trained and more motivated staff.

Better awareness of these schemes could help address some of the challenges Vodafone Business research has unveiled as 21% of SMEs said this level of support would help sway them into taking on an apprentice for their business.

Additional findings in the report also found:

20% of SMEs suggested they didn’t know how to go about hiring an apprentice, whilst 21% suggested that they simply couldn’t afford one. 48% of those cite higher business running costs due to the cost-of-living crisis as the main barrier, 30% blame the increased energy bills for heating, lighting and running equipment and 21% say increased staff wages are the reason.

Nick Gliddon, Business Director, Vodafone UK said: “Our research shows just how much support is required from both big businesses and Government to ensure that SMEs can take on apprentices or offer up-skilling programmes to existing staff. With SMEs making up 99.9% of all businesses, they are crucial to our economy and have an important role to play in providing the UK workforce with viable opportunities, training and skills.

“SMEs are often forgotten when discussions about apprenticeships take place and barriers, like costs and time, make it harder for them. At Vodafone Business our focus is to make life easier for businesses, so we have launched a new scheme in partnership with Multiverse for SMEs to fund their apprenticeship programmes. This will help people of all ages and backgrounds have the opportunity to learn and develop new skills.”

Jeremy Duggan, President of Multiverse said: “Ensuring the right digital skills are in place is essential for any business, and apprenticeships schemes are simply the best way to deliver these through applied, on-the-job learning. As SMEs reckon with market forces, Vodafone’s donation will enable small businesses to invest in their people, develop to their full potential and unlock growth, through the creation of these apprenticeship programmes.”

To find out more about this programme and apply for your business register here before 14th February 2023.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Business News .