O2 HR Director: '2017 is set to be a landmark year for…'

HR can, sometimes, be guilty of looking externally for a solution to a problem when in reality, the answer has always been right in front of them. 

Ann Pickering, O2’s HR Director, thinks an example of this is apprenticeships.

Skills shortages, talent droughts or whatever else you want to call them are all frequently referred to whenever the function mentions recruiting. But apprenticeships can quell these instances when the jobs market goes dry. 

“2017 is set to be a landmark year for apprenticeships,” she tells us. “With apprentice participation at the highest ever recorded figure of nearly 900,000, and the Government’s Apprenticeship Levy newly in place, it’s time for businesses to take notice of the potential benefits an apprenticeship programme can offer them.”