Analysis
Policy Implications
The Registered Apprenticeship program provides a career pathway that results in strong wages five years after program completion. Notably, the median wage of Registered Apprenticeship completers with full-quarter wages is over $80,000 annually. Given these encouraging results, the following policy questions should be considered:
- Increased Participation - There is a limited population of Registered Apprenticeship completers. In 2012-2013, there were only 1,019 program completers. Given the successful outcomes, can the Registered Apprenticeship program be scaled up to accommodate more participants? If so, what programs and mechanisms are in place to identify and encourage individuals to consider a Registered Apprenticeship program? In addition, can the occupations and industries served by Registered Apprenticeship accommodate an increase? One consideration is the discussion by President Biden and Congress on an infrastructure plan. If passed, the infrastructure spending will undoubtedly require skilled labor in the occupations served by Registered Apprenticeship.
- Diversity – The 2012-2013 Registered Apprenticeship program completers were overwhelmingly white men. How can participation among women and minorities within the current Registered Apprenticeship training occupations be increased? Notably, President Biden’s infrastructure plan, recognizes both the importance of Registered Apprenticeship as a workforce development tool and the need to increase participation by women and minorities.
[The plan] includes registered apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships, creating one to two million new registered apprenticeships slots, and strengthening the pipeline for more women and people of color to access these opportunities through successful pre-apprenticeship programs such as the Women in Apprenticeships in Non-Traditional Occupations. This will ensure these underserved groups have greater access to new infrastructure jobs. – The White House, Fact Sheet: The American Jobs Plan (3/31/2021)
- New Occupations – Are there opportunities to expand Registered Apprenticeships to different occupations that may attract more diverse participation? For example, can a Registered Apprenticeship program in teaching offer a new pathway into the teaching profession, which may attract more women and minorities? This could be especially useful for college educated individuals interested in entering the teaching profession, but who did not complete an approved teaching program. Registered Apprenticeship would allow them to receive on the job training and instructional programs all while earning a salary.
Recent efforts to expand Apprenticeships
There has been a heightened focus in Maryland for positioning Registered Apprenticeship as the state’s premier workforce development solution. To that end, in both its 2016 and 2020 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) State Plans, Maryland recognized the importance of Registered Apprenticeship. Specifically the plan notes, “[by] aligning apprenticeships with the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) system, Maryland will ensure traditional apprenticeship opportunities expand alongside the creation of new opportunities that are grounded in labor market demand.”
In October 2016, the Maryland Department of Labor (Labor) executed a strategic realignment of the Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Program by transferring this unit from the Division of Labor and Industry to the Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning. By integrating Registered Apprenticeship programs with other workforce development services, Labor has positioned the state to both leverage resources and existing programs while also better connecting job seekers to in-demand occupations in key industry sectors.
These structural innovations have directly contributed to a significant growth and diversification in Maryland’s Registered Apprenticeship program. As of September 27, 2021, the total number of Registered Apprentices registered in Maryland is 11,219, representing growth of 50.3% as compared to 2012. Since the fall of 2016, a total of 107 new Registered Apprenticeship programs have been approved by the Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Council, with 31 previously inactive programs being reactivated. Eighty-seven specific occupations were approved for the first time in Maryland over the course of the same time period.
Supporting this growth has been Maryland Labor’s success in competitively securing nearly $13 million since 2016 for activities to accelerate and expand Registered Apprenticeship opportunities within the State. These funds have been utilized to advance a number of strategic priorities including: implementing technological upgrades to existing Registered Apprenticeship-related external web interfaces and internal databases as well as developing the state’s first comprehensive Registered Apprenticeship marketing and outreach campaign. There will also be opportunities for funding to be available to support the expansion of both Registered and Youth Apprenticeship.
In addition to growing the Registered Apprenticeship system, recent initiatives have also helped to diversity the participants. The table below presents the demographic break-down of the September 2021 total Registered Apprentice population of 11,219.
Maryland Labor anticipates that these trends will continue. Specifically, the Department’s first comprehensive marketing and outreach plan focused on Registered Apprenticeship includes an element with the goal of increasing awareness about Registered Apprenticeship among New Americans. Prior funding awards made by Maryland Labor to the Baltimore Alliance for Careers in Healthcare (BACH) have resulted in stronger pathways for women, minorities, and New Americans to access the healthcare industry utilizing the apprenticeship model. Staff of the Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Program also work with Maryland Labor’s Re-entry Navigators to help jobseekers facing barriers to employment in accessing Registered Apprenticeships.
Future Reserach
- This report focuses only on individuals who completed a Maryland Apprentice Training Program. Understanding the number of Registered Apprenticeship program non-completers and their outcomes is necessary to fully understand the impact of these programs.
- Given that many of the Registered Apprenticeship programs require physical abilities, what happens to Registered Apprenticeship completers later in life when they may not have the physical ability to perform physically demanding tasks? What is their career track? Is retention an issue and, if so, are there new career options available?