FREE DOWNLOAD: Mark Breslin Releases 2014 Next Generation Apprenticeship Survey

March 22 2014

Well-known union construction analyst and educator Mark Breslin has just released the 2014 Next Generation Apprenticeship Survey, a free PDF report designed to assist contractors and unions with “developing policies and assigning resources to best identify, train and retain the Next Generation of Apprentices in the United States and Canada.”

Over 1,000 industry professionals and leaders provided their responses and insights for the survey, including union leaders, training professionals, contractors and association professionals.

Among the report’s numerous findings:

Top barriers to obtaining quality apprentices: Respondents said that apprentice screening and intake processes are only fair to poor in identifying and selecting quality long term apprentices. 80% of respondents report that counselors and teachers discourage the trades as an attractive or viable career option. Parents no longer promote or support careers without a college degree as a primary option. Society in general is not orienting to “hands on” careers anymore.

Respondents expect 1 of 4 union apprentices to end up a weak performer in the industry. An anticipated 25% failure rate is a very serious issue of quality and performance for the future.

Respondents said that one of the most successful ways to recruit and retain candidates is to invest more time on the front-end evaluation of the apprentice intake process. Reportedly, the necessary time investment is very difficult to obtain from key leaders on both the union and employer sides. The best results reported for recruitment of high quality candidates combines integrated testing, problem solving and personality and technical skills — as well as a behavioral-based interview of at least 25 minutes.

The survey is available as a free download from the Breslin Strategies Website. Mark is encouraging anyone who downloads the report to distribute it “to others that you believe share our interests to shape the talent, values and work ethic of our future workforce.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE REPORT IN PDF FORMAT

For more free reports from Mark Breslin, click here to browse the list.