Apprenticeship and Work-Based Learning

The middle years of this decade have featured an explosion of interest in the apprenticeship model of training and the practice of work-based learning. An increasing number of unions, employers and workforce intermediary partnerships are open to the model. The U.S. Department of Labor and its Office of Apprenticeship is working to double the number of trainees involved in registered apprenticeship programs.

The U.S. Congress has appropriated funds to expand registered apprenticeship into multiple industries and increase the capacity of states to nurture the system. Apprenticeship has taken on a larger role in the 2014 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Apprenticeship legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Congress. And the presence of a registered apprenticeship system has been gaining momentum in public consciousness: A WAI study revealed that over an eleven-year period, the number of times the term “apprenticeship” appeared in  mass media increased from 5,000 times (2009) to more than 79,900 times (2020).

The AFL-CIO Working for America Institute is engaged in promoting high-quality apprenticeship, notably in advancing the Industrial Manufacturing Technician (IMT) registered apprenticeship program in manufacturing and working with intermediaries to develop apprenticeships for housekeepers, chefs, and others in the hotel and hospitality industry. 

Resources

Publications

PDF icon Advantages of Apprenticeship Training

PDF icon Construction Apprenticeship: The “Other Four-Year Degree”

PDF icon U.S. Department of Labor: A Quick Start Toolkit for Building Registered Apprenticeship Programs

PDF icon IMT Apprenticeship Program One-Page Overview

PDF icon The Industrial Manufacturing Technician Apprenticeship

PDF icon Advanced Manufacturing Strategies Toolkit