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Apprenticeships - Unfair and exploitative? Cheap Labour?




























In the 2009/10 year 279 thousand people started an apprenticeship. 
Year 2012/13 and 510 thousand people started an apprenticeship. 

My opinion - the conservative led government have ranked up efforts to get the unemployed on an apprenticeship to help with those unemployment figures!

Apprenticeships are normally aimed at 16-18 year old school leavers who want to train and work whilst getting paid at the same time. The National Minimum Wage for an apprentice aged 16-18 is £2.73 per hour. The pay is quite low, if you work full-time then you'll get around £95 per week, but that's not bad (or is it) for someone of that age who probably has nothing to pay out for. And if I were 16 again I probably would have done an apprenticeship rather than go to college and get paid nothing. 

 45% of the 510 thousand people that started an apprenticeship in 2012/1013 were 25 years of age or older compared to 18% in 2009/2010. That's quite an increase isn't it? More and more unemployed people are being forced into these training programs without a guaranteed job at the end of it.

If your'e 19 or over then you get paid the NMW rate for an apprentice of £2.73 for the first year of your studies. After the first year you get paid at least the NMW for rate for your age. Lets use Samuel as an example, he is 19 and has been out of work for 6 months and is desperately looking for a way back in. This is the only way to gain experience in the field he wants to enter and he needs the experience because every job he applies for demands it. Plus, the Jobcentre are pushing for him to do something so that they can get him off the benefits list (this is far too common an issue we hear of everyday). Is a full-time wage of £95 enough per week for you to get to and from work, buy lunch, buy dinner, pay your bills etc. Is it not unfair that your colleague will be earning much more than you, although you do the same job? Don't you feel exploited by your employer? Don't you feel like the employer is getting cheap labour? 

I believe that if you are 19 or over and have no choice but to go on one of these training programs then the government should help with living costs for the first year of your apprenticeship. Things such as food vouchers, travel vouchers, uniform vouchers should all be considered until at least, you start earning the NMW for your age. 

 Now if your 16 then this is a great opportunity for you to take but I firmly believe that the wage should be progressive and increase year on year. An Apprentice Business Administrator will earn £2.73 per hour whilst their colleague who is not on an apprenticeship will earn £8.80 per hour. Is it fair that an apprentice will do the same work as their colleague and earn 3 times less than them? That would drive me insane, exploitative and unfair? I think so. 

 Party leaders have said enough about getting people on an apprenticeship which I believe is a great way to learn but I do believe that the pay needs to be progressive, and you need a guaranteed job at the end of it. Companies are using apprenticeships as a way to pay employees less and something needs to be done about it. The government need to clamp down on cheap labour. Since when do you need an apprenticeship for a call center worker role or a warehouse role? 

 The Apprenticeship program needs to be fair for all, not just for the ones on top. 

Martin Allen's pamphlet 'Another Great Training Robbery or a Real Alternative for Young People? Apprenticeships at the start of the 21st century'. https://radicaledbks.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/apprenticeships.pdf 


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