The Retailer Summer Edition 2022

THE RE TA I L ER

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APPRENTICESHIPS: FUTUREPROOFING RETAIL’S POST-PANDEMIC WORKFORCE AND BOOSTING THE TALENT PIPELINE

Christian Amadeo Managing Director Fashion & Retail Awards

H ow apprenticeships weathered the pan demic, why they remain vital to retail’s workforce and social value, and the end-point assessment advantage.

Apprenticeships focused on retail-specific occupations fared better Over the course of the pandemic there was a noted change in the mix of standards retailers prioritised.All apprenticeships aimat specific occupations, based on industry-developed standards detailing the required knowledge, skills and behaviours for success in role.Apprenticeship programmes aimed at occupations found inmultiple industries arewell served, such as general management, business administration and IT technicians. These standards have always comprised thebulkof apprenticeship starts for the retail industry. Standards for retail-specific occupations include several tiers of retail operations and management (mainly store focused), customer service specialists and more recently buying and merchandising. Against thebackdropof overall decline apprenticeship starts on retail-specific standards increased as a proportion of the mix, rising to 36% in 2020/21 and exceeding volumes seen in 2017/18 – a year free from Covid-19.

As the retail industry works hard to recover from the global pandemic, and further headwinds gather, the necessity to upskill and lingering recruit ment challenges continue. Apprenticeships are, and will increasingly be, part of the solution.

What happened toapprenticeship recruitment over the pandemic?

At the outset of the pandemic, in the 2019/20 academic year, the number of apprentices starting programmes in the retail industry saw a sharp 31% decline, more than most industries. This interrupted steady growth in the previous year. Recruitment of apprentices picked up again in 2020/21 in some, but not all sub-sectors. Starts attributed to companies classified as retail trade (excluding motor vehicles) took a larger initial hit, but rebounded faster. Over the same period wholesale trade held relatively steady after the initial dip, while starts associated with the automotive trade continue to decline year-on-year.

Chart 2: Allapprenticeship starts vrs. starts on retail-specific standards

Chart 1: Apprenticeship starts across the retail industry

Source: Department for Education national statistics

Howdid retailers use apprenticeships over the course of the pandemic? Focusing on the uptake of retail-specific standards is a good way to under stand howretailers used apprenticeship programmes to attract and upskill theirworkforce over the pandemic. Generallyspeaking, apprenticeships can be deployed as an intake programme or as a way to upskill the incumbent workforce. On intake orientated programmes apprentices will start their training nearer to their date of first employment. Apprenticeships offered with upskilling inmind aremore likely to include employeeswho have been with the business for longer. Prior to the pandemic, roughly a third of starts on retail-specific standards went to employees who had been with the business for less than a year. By the end of the 2020/21 academic year this proportion jumped to just under half – a notable shift suggesting a trend towards attraction.

Source: Department for Education national statistics