About 79% of employers look forward to increasing their apprentice intake in Q4 2022 January–March 2023 vs. 77% employers in calendar year H2 2022, a report by ed-tech platform TeamLease has revealed.
According to the Apprenticeship Outlook Report Q4 2022, from January to March 2023, about 37% of employers are willing to increase their intake due to the fact that apprentices are real time skilled talent available in the market. Additionally, 23% of employers feel that apprentices also help to unlock business growth opportunities, the report stated.
The overall NAO, however, has witnessed a marginal dip of 3% in the current quarter January–March 2023, compared to the previous half-year, July-December, 2022. This is primarily due to a higher number of employers foreseeing a decrease (13% up from 9%), which is driven by regulatory uncertainty around certain programs & macro-economic headwinds, the report stated.
12 out of the 24 industries see an increase in their Net Apprenticeship Outlook. Large-size businesses have the highest NAO 69%, up from 65% in July-December 2022, whereas SMEs have witnessed a drop of 64%, down from 71%, as per the report. “As India Inc. continues to recognize the prowess of apprenticeships in developing a strong talent pipeline, it’s heartening to see that the proportion of employers willing to expand their apprentice engagement in the quarter has increased,” Sumit Kumar, chief business officer -manufacturing, TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship, said.