Treffer: Mastering Apprenticeships: Wisconsin's Efforts to Prepare Skilled Workers. Mastering Apprenticeships

With labor shortages reported in Wisconsin across many industries, it is encouraging that participation in the state's apprenticeship programs is at a record high. Newer apprenticeship programs in several high-demand health care occupations also appear promising for expansion. This brief examines Wisconsin's Registered Apprenticeship, Certified Pre-Apprenticeship, and Youth Apprenticeship training landscape, explaining how these three state programs function and connect with one another, analyzing participation and completion data by county and trade, and identifying potential opportunities to strengthen these opportunities to benefit both workers and the state's economy. To do so, data is used from the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, U.S. Department of Labor, and U.S. Census Bureau, and insights from interviews with more than a dozen workforce development leaders from throughout the state. The analysis highlights several challenges, including limited connections between the state's youth and registered apprenticeship opportunities, continued underrepresentation of female and Black workers among registered apprentices, and a lack of pre-apprenticeship training opportunities outside of a few urban counties. [Additional funding provided by Gilbane.]

ERIC