Talent pipelines | Apprenticeships could be the key to the talent wars, so start using them

In 2022, a study by Survation on behalf of BusinessLDN, found that a massive 48% of businesses have returned unspent apprenticeship levy funding. That’s the equivalent of around £2billion in unutilised funds.

It’s a shocking number, and in an age where the talent market is at its most volatile, it’s also unacceptable.

Let’s not mince words – it’s getting harder and harder to justify the traditional route of further education for workers. Whilst university remains a generally viable route to employment, it’s a costly and time-consuming process that drastically limits the length and breadth of talent in the market thats essentially based on who can afford it and who cannot.

Many leaders - including our new monarch King Charles, who has been an outspoken advocate of apprenticeships since the inception of the Prince’s Trust – have publicly endorsed investing further in alternative routes to employment. And for good reason.