National Apprenticeship Week Highlights Skilled Labor Training Across the U.S.A.

This is National Apprenticeship Week (Nov. 14-20), as highlighted by a special web page published by the U.S. Department of Labor. It was the second annual apprenticeship week, as proclaimed in 2015 by President Obama, following in the footsteps of President John F. Kennedy, who issued a similar proclamation, for National Apprenticeship Month, in 1962.

Part of our apprenticeship training brochure

National Apprenticeship Week recognizes the important role apprentices play in offering employers an opportunity to develop a highly skilled workforce and career seekers the chance to earn a salary while learning the skills necessary to be successful in a trade. The week celebrates the role that apprenticeship programs play in moving America's vital industries forward.

As we wrote on this blog in August, apprenticeships are making a difference for skilled workers nationwide. In that article we cited several examples from around the country of the value of apprenticeship programs and the difference they're making both for employers and laborers.

This week an article in The Hill, a political newspaper published in Washington, D.C., focused on removing the barriers that exist for women seeking apprenticeships. "Women currently account for only 6.3% of apprentices and less than 3% of apprentices in the construction and building trades," the article said. "At a time when women make up 47% of the workforce -- and when the construction industry is seeing its highest growth rate since 2005 -- such paltry numbers are simply unacceptable."

Apprenticeship training is of the highest caliber and is specific to the construction industry. Trainees learn exactly what is needed to succeed and qualify for advancement. You can review our brochure containing information about our apprenticeship training programs on our website, www.eastcentralohiobuildingtrades.com.