The net apprenticeship outlook – or the willingness among employers to engage apprentices – for H2 (Oct-Mar) has soared to record high with 75% of the organisations planning to onboard apprentices versus 41% in the same period in 2021. A whopping majority – 70% of the employers – engaged apprentices in H1 of this financial year.
The findings across 700 companies show about 47% of firms intend to have 10% of their total workforce as apprentices in the next 6 months, while a substantial 31% are currently maintaining an apprenticeship share of 5-10% within their organisation.
“There has been a phenomenal growth in three years in the intent of companies to engage apprentices,” said Sumit Kumar, Chief Business Officer, TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship. The second half of the fiscal will see the highest ever engagement of youngsters as apprentices by companies across sectors such as automobile, electrical, retail, NBFC, etc, he added.
Apart from Class X/XII degree holders, there is also a rising demand for graduate apprenticeships in roles such as electrical and electronics engineer, mechanical engineer and automobile engineer.
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Among companies that are betting big on apprenticeship are the likes of Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Motherson Sumi, Minda, Lumax, ITC, and several others, according to officials and industry sources.
The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki annually engages more than 3,000 fresh apprentices from ITIs. The apprentices earn a stipend of around ₹18,300 per month. Extending its efforts to train and make students (who have completed at least Class 10) industry ready, the company has signed a flexi MoU with the government to implement a ‘Earn while your Learn’ model, under which every year nearly 2,300 students undergo vocational training at its factories. The student trainees are paid a stipend of ₹15,200 per month.
Rahul Bharti, executive director – corporate affairs, said: “To put it simply, if we have to make more cars, we need more skilled people. For that it is crucial that large corporates like us take part in skill building and widening the talent pool.”
The company is focussing on creating supply of quality manpower through its tie-ups with the ITIs. It also runs a flagship skill development initiative Japan-India Institute for Manufacturing (JIM) through which it trains youngsters – many of whom then have the opportunity to join the company. It has set up 3 JIMs – two in Gujarat and one in Haryana – and is planning to open one more.