Labor Chief Says It’s No Longer Simply A Path For Plumbers, Carpenters
BOSTON, NOV. 20, 2024…..Confronting employee shortages throughout well being care, training and expertise, state labor officers and enterprise leaders on Wednesday lauded apprenticeship applications as a precious mannequin for driving expertise pipelines and enhancing office range.
National Apprenticeship Week — with 2024 marking the initiative’s tenth yr — has introduced a flurry of occasions to the commonwealth, together with a celebration hosted by the Massachusetts Apprenticeship Community, an offshoot of the Better Boston Chamber of Commerce.
“When you consider apprenticeships, some could instantly consider your plumber, your electrician, your carpenter. And sure, that’s true, and there’s an enormous confirmed mannequin, and their confirmed mannequin helps to unlock extra alternatives,” Secretary of Labor and Workforce Growth Lauren Jones stated Wednesday at Suffolk College, as she touted extra ladies and folks of coloration becoming a member of the constructing trades.
She added, “We additionally know that this can be a confirmed mannequin that gives a good taking part in discipline if you’re life sciences, expertise, if you’re enthusiastic about well being care and the calls for that we have now for filling extra alternatives for direct care staff.”
Jones this week visited Plumbers and Gasfitters Native 12 in Dorchester with undersecretary Josh Cutler. She attended a “women in commerce” occasion in Holyoke and toured the Metrica apprenticeship program in Northampton. She’s additionally saying $3.2 million for apprenticeship grant funding, anticipated to help 29 organizations and place 514 apprentices, at Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute in Boston.
Eligible employers with registered apprenticeship applications can safe a state tax credit of as much as $4,800 per apprentice. Apprenticeships supply longer-term alternatives in comparison with internships, and individuals can achieve upskilling or reskilling coaching whereas incomes {industry} credentials.
Apprenticeship graduates noticed their earnings improve almost 50 p.c when measured throughout a yr earlier than their program and a yr after finishing it, based on a current examine highlighted by Suffolk College President Marisa Kelly.
About 40 p.c of apprentices at international expertise agency CGI, which has Massachusetts-based workers, come from underrepresented communities. Thirty p.c of apprentices are ladies, 20 p.c are veterans or army spouses, and 41 p.c have been unemployed at 27 weeks or longer, stated Brad MacDougall, director of consulting providers at CGI’s New England enterprise unit.
Kiran Puchakayala, now a marketing consultant at CGI, stated collaborating within the firm’s apprenticeship program helped her return to the tech {industry}. After taking a profession break, Puchakayala stated she struggled to discover a job, although she had a pc science diploma and labored a number of years as a software program developer.
“My CGI apprenticeship journey has been persistently fulfilling as a result of I gained hands-on expertise engaged on completely different initiatives. I realized new applied sciences, earned some industry-relevant certifications, constructed new connections,” she stated.
Cutler stated the apprenticeship mannequin can drive the transition to “skills-based hiring,” a observe that Gov. Maura Healey embraced by an govt order earlier this yr. For job postings, Healey stated her administration will concentrate on candidates’ abilities, information and talents somewhat than their levels.
“We’re attempting to maneuver in that path, and this apprenticeship piece is an enormous a part of that,” Cutler stated. “Whether or not you’re getting your IT certificates, cybersecurity certificates or early training certificates, you realize you’ll be able to take that with you, and it’s an awesome increase to your profession.”
