By Sumit Kumar

Very recently, an article in a leading publication in the UK appreciated India’s apprenticeship system as one of the best in the world. Well, this wasn’t a case till about half a decade ago. India’s apprenticeship system is 62 years old, written in 1961, however, it is only recently we are witnessing a growth. In the last two years, the apprentices head count has doubled up from 3.5 lakh to 7 lacs; 20000 employers to 40000 employers actively engaging apprentices and the number of registered employers rose to 170000 from 120000. Government has made a concentrated effort to simplify the system and being agnostic to the changing world of work, and aspirations of youth. Although, apprenticeships was considered to be for technical and manufacturing sector, but today, the number of apprentices in services job roles has surpassed those in  manufacturing, and apprenticeships are possible in almost every sector and job role. Here are Some of the recent trends in apprenticeship implementation.

  1. Implementation of DBT: Direct Beneficiary Transfer under NAPS to expedite the subsidy benefit to the employers under the scheme . And also the apprentices get the benefit directly without any intermediary. Govt aim is to cover 5 mn beneficiaries in next 3 years as stated by the Finance Minister in her budget speech. From July, this has been made mandatory, however, a pilot was being run to streamline the gaps in the process. The positive side is that the implementation of DBT has put strong governance in place. Though this is a big step in formalising the apprenticeship through digital infrastructure, few steps needs to be plugged in to ensure timely payout to the apprentices and cut down the payment cycle. This is also essential to build confidence of the apprentices and employers in the system which is important to scale the adoption and engagement of apprenticeship.
  2. Apprenticeships goes Green: Green skills are gaining prominence on account of organisations becoming climate conscious and targeting for Net Zero Emission by 2070. For sustainable economic growth, there is a tremendous focus on building capabilities , skills and knowledge to cater to job roles supporting building and implementation of green technology. Currently, India is well positioned with respect to availability of green skills which is above the global average. Organisations are greasing up to with multiple initiatives for green workforce development like reskilling and upskilling of the existing workforce and also leverage apprenticeships to create a green talent pool. Sectors like Auto, Power, Agriculture, Infrastructure, etc which are more susceptible to green technologies are using apprenticeship as a mechanism to develop skill sets by on the job training the apprentices to build expertise. 
  3. Apprenticeships goes Pink: Government has taken multiple initiatives like ‘make in India’, ‘PLI, ‘skill India for economic development and generating formal employment. These initiates have increased the demand for skilled workforce and organisations are gender agnostic as long as they get the required talent. Apprenticeships are being used to drive the diversity agenda for organisations by building women talent pool by leverage apprenticeships. Currently the women represent 25% in the order all apprentices in India which were majorly engaged in the services sector  like hospitality, healthcare, IT/ ITES, Telecom, Retail, BFSI. Over the last 3-4 months there has been a surge in demand for women apprentices in the manufacturing sector as well for the job roles that were dominated by male historically. Interestingly, there is absolute pay parity when it comes to stipends being paid to men and women apprentices.
  4. Active engagement through Third Party Agent – In 2015, Govt introduced the concept of TPA to support the industry to execute apprenticeship. The inmate nature of the system which is highly regulated and fragment makes it difficult for organisations to execute apprenticeships. TPA is the support system which is available to organisations to take up turnkey projects entailing end-to-end tasks (from onboarding to exit of apprentices). The role of TPA is largely for the engagement of apprentices under ‘optional trade’. In the last 2-3 years the count of apprentices in this segment has doubled. Currently, TPA handles 65% of the overall apprentices in the country which is around 7 lacs. The outsourcing of the function of a TPA helps organisations to save costs which could be in tune of 30%, release internal bandwidth to use for core work, and keep up with the updates in the system. In Australia, a A similar concept of Group Training Organization (GTO) is used to handle apprentices in the SME segment. Similarly, TPA could play a pivotal role in scaling apprentices in the SME segment in India as well.
  1. Degree Apprenticeships: Degree Apprenticeships are gaining momentum off late as organisations are able to tap the talent at grass root level and it leads to wholistic development of the apprentices. Apprenticeship integrated with Higher Education is an innovation and is being well received by the academia and industry which has resulted in the partnership that is essential to enhance youth employability and overcome talent crisis. Based on New Education Policy 2020, Degree Apprenticeships are based on the credit system and focus on both capability building, gaining knowledge and qualification. Interestingly, a third of apprentices in UK are enrolled in Degree Apprentices and the concept is picking up in the US as well. In India, the degree apprenticeships are being implemented in automotive, electronic and retail sectors, however, in a very short time more programs are being launched. 
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The increase in adoption and engagement of apprentices is a testimony of the returns that the system is paying to its stakeholders. Employers are able to create a talent pool which has rationalised their talent cost. As the jobs are more skill focused, apprenticeship churns relevant talent in real time which improves economic productivity. The youth is being channelised to formal employment which is resulting in an increase in national income. As India prepares to be the world’s third largest economy, skilled workforce play a key role. Currently, apprentices participation in the labor market is 0.1% in India, which should be 3-4% ideally, as seen in developed economies. With the initiatives taken by the government to scale the skill ecosystem and make it attractive, India is well positioned to be the global skill capital. 

The author is the chief business officer, TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship.