A key industry body has accused politicians of neglecting the future of a workforce segment vital to meeting housing needs and net zero ambitions.
With funding for Scottish employers down by nearly a third in real terms during the past eight years, SELECT managing director Alan Wilson said government leaders will one day "maybe come to their senses – but there's no evidence of that so far". This "short-sightedness" is deterring employers from taking on young learners despite sustained and increasing demand for electricians.
“We constantly hear from government at all levels about the importance of apprenticeships in our sector," Mr Wilson said. "But like some clever table magician, they show – or more likely say – on one hand what they want you to hear while, on the other hand, they are more often than not doing the complete opposite.
Read more:
“The increase in the apprentice national minimum wage to £8 per hour, announced by the UK Government at last year's Budget, is a huge cost to many small firms, especially when the apprentice spends a great deal of the first stage at college.
“On top of that, the financial support which the Scottish Government gives to the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust (SECTT) to run the electrical apprenticeship scheme on behalf of the industry has not increased for more than eight years. In fact, when inflation is taken into account, it has decreased by over 30%.”
His remarks ahead of Scottish Apprenticeship Week beginning March 2 follow a prediction last year by an industry expert that Scotland will soon need double the number of electricians to implement an “unprecedented pathway of work”.
Read more:
“Do we need more electricians? Yes, probably double the number, really," professor Sean Smith of the University of Edinburgh told the Sparks' Remarks podcast.
"The fastest fully-filled courses in engineering currently are electrical and mechanical engineering. You could probably fill them twice with the number of applications that all universities and colleges are receiving,"
New survey data from the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has found that 45% of Scottish parents prefer an apprenticeship as the career path for their child, ahead of university (42%) and going directly into work (23%). More than half (53%) said they have discussed apprenticeships with their child and 32% would prefer that their child "earn while they learn".
Read more:
Mr Wilson at SELECT noted that small a micro-sized firms recruit the most electrical apprentices and are "the very type" who need government support to do so, but "the short-sightedness of politicians is rolling the skills shortage forward, not back".
“By backing electrotechnical apprenticeships, Scotland strengthens its skills pipeline where it matters most: in high-demand, future-focused roles that support net zero, infrastructure growth and a resilient domestic workforce.”
He added: “Doing nothing is not an option but it does seem that those who make decisions on these issues need to visit their optician as their short-sighted views are going to end up affecting our whole economy. One day they will maybe come to their senses – but there's no evidence of that so far.”
Share