Written by Leila Glen for www.click4reg.co.uk
The newly implemented Automotive Apprenticeship Matching Service is predicted to serve up huge benefits to the automotive supply chain. The aforementioned scheme was launched by a whole host of front-runners in car manufacturing on Wednesday 12th April 2016.
Why was the scheme put in place?
Automotive company programmes are often largely oversubscribed, resulting a large number of perfectly qualified candidates missing out. The idea behind the Apprenticeship service is simple; with help from the Automotive Industrial Partnership (government supported skills collaboration) each year up to 10,000 high calibre applicants will be found automotive apprenticeship positions.
What does it hope to achieve?
According to research done by manufacturing skills body SEMTA, there is currently a shortage of key manufacturing skills in the automotive sector, and if this is not addressed, it will directly impact upon the success of the industry. Without implementing more training schemes, there simply will not be enough skilled workers to go around â hence the currently growing automotive productivity will be halted; sustaining industry growth is impossible to do without the workforce, after all.
Al Parkes, Chief Operating Officer from SEMTA said: “The Matching Service is vital for the industry and has huge potential to be broadened to support the recruitment and development of new talent in the wider advanced manufacturing sector and indeed other disciplines, hugely benefiting employment as a whole in the UK.”
Who is involved?
Huge names in the automotive industry are involved with the scheme, including Jaguar and Torotrack, to name but a few. Jo Lopes, Head of Technical Excellence at Jaguar Land Rover and Chair of the Automotive Industrial Partnership said, “As an industry, the automotive sector has a long standing history of providing apprenticeships â and there are many great career opportunities. But we recognise that there is more we can do to attract and support our new talent pipeline. By taking a collaborative and innovative approach to developing new skills solutions, with larger employers working alongside smaller component manufacturers we are ensuring that our whole industry will benefit.”
The uniqueness of this particular project is the way in which the Matching Service will collaborate with both candidates and companies across the automotive industry, helping them through the whole recruitment process, every step of the way. The Matching Serviceâs primary aim is to lessen the headaches associated with hiring the correct employees to benefit your business and fit in with your particular growth plan etc. The companies will therefore benefit from significant time, cost and recruitment resource savings.
A report earlier this year indicated that over 5000 job vacancies existed within the UKâs hugely productive car industry, due simply to the fact that there wasnât an adequate number of skilled individuals to fill them. Since the UK Automotive industry is currently one of the most powerful in Europe, itâs no wonder the Matching Service has been launched in order to keep it up there with its European competitors in terms of productivity.
For young people wishing to get into the automotive industry, apprenticeships are invaluable in terms of the opportunities they provide to learn and gain skills which will ultimately shape their careers. The Automotive Apprenticeship Matching Service will offer employers and applicants alike support; this will mean the former will be hiring the correct people and the latter will have the correct skills â and as a result the whole industry will benefit.
