This is Scottish Apprenticeship Week, an annual event in which employers, learning providers and apprentices across the country promote the importance and benefits of work-based learning.

The week will feature apprentices from a number of different industry sectors who are using this route to successfully develop their careers. It will also highlight the commitment of businesses that are investing in the skills of their workforce.

In a post-industrial era where traditional mass employers such as shipyards and steelworks have declined or vanished, apprenticeships have an important role to play and remain fundamental to economic growth.

The Modern Apprenticeship programme, as defined by Skills Development Scotland (SDS), provides individuals with the opportunity to secure industry-recognised qualifications while earning money. It offers people aged 16 and over the opportunity of paid employment, combined with training at different levels.

According to the most recent statistics from SDS, more than 28,000 people started Modern or Graduate Apprenticeships in 2018, the eighth consecutive year that figure has risen. A further 21,767 individuals achieved their apprenticeship qualifications in that same period.

As encouraging as these figures are, however, they only tell part of the story. In addition to Modern and Graduate Apprenticeships, many organisations have developed their own traineeships aimed at addressing skills gaps within the market, nurturing talent, and even raising industry standards.

Chiene + Tait’s Payroll learning and development trainee programme was created with all those objectives in mind. Launched in 2013, Neil Cameron, it was set up to address the drop in payroll professionals entering the job market.

Due in part to a rising wave of compliance and legislation affecting payroll, positions have become increasingly difficult to fill. Recent payroll-related errors, including the high-profile incidents affecting employees at John Lewis and frozen food retailer Iceland, underline the challenges of recruiting people to work in this field. With many accountancy graduates choosing to focus their skills in other areas of the sector, our Payroll learning and development training programme is now helping to fill the breach.

OUR programme addresses the skills shortage issue and improves overall standards within the payroll function by offering on-the-job experience with a route to a formal qualification.

This approach is now producing a number of skilled payroll practitioners benefiting from the highest level of training in managing potentially complex areas such as workplace pensions and National Minimum Wage legislation.

By working at the point where people development meets skills shortages, our payroll development programme shows how apprenticeships are evolving to meet modern-day needs.

The number of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (Stem) apprenticeships has continued to grow in recent years, and these are also fields that face skills shortages. It is encouraging to see apprenticeships playing a key role to address that challenge.

According to Scottish Government figures, four out of 10 Modern Apprenticeship starts were in Stem roles and, additionally, the majority of all graduate apprenticeships are in Stem occupations.

Whether they are Modern Apprenticeships or bespoke training programmes developed in-house, apprenticeships deliver real and mutually beneficial value to apprentices, organisations and the wider economy alike.

They can lead to rewarding careers, deepen talent pools, and attract new talent into sectors and regions facing skills shortages. To assist, the Scottish Government has promised to support the recruitment of 30,000 new apprentices by the end of the 2020 financial year, helping more organisations and new talent.

This article was originally published in The Herald