After 11 years of delivering IT apprenticeships, ANS Academy as a Service can now bring that expertise to your business.
But why should you want to use apprentices for your business in the first place? What makes apprenticeships more appealing than regular talent acquisition?
Here are 4 key things to consider.
1. Apprentices keep recruitment costs down.
Money talks, obviously. And it turns out that apprenticeships are very cost-effective.
First off, there’s the government incentives. You can reduce your tax bill or even access direct funding for high-quality training.
Employers don’t need to pay NIC for apprentices under 25 earning less than £50,270 a year, and you can earn an additional £1,000 for each apprentice aged 16-18 (or aged 19-24 who are in care or a local authority plan).
On top of that, apprenticeships allow you to train new talent to fill the digital skills gaps and vacancies within your business. This is usually cheaper (and easier) than hiring expensive new talent or retraining experienced staff.
“Utilising the funds from your own levy or from the government is a great way to boost your skills and engagement at a very low cost to your bottom line.”
Tom Robinson, Head of Apprenticeships at ANS
2. They keep employee retention rates high (and digital skill gaps low).
65% of apprentices stay with the same employer after their apprenticeship is complete, according to a gov.uk report.
If employee churn is a problem you’re facing, then training new talent or upskilling existing staff members through apprenticeships is a great way to keep people sticking around for a long time.
After all, turnover is expensive.
In fact, according to Oxford Economics and Unum, it costs an average of £30,614 to replace one single £25K salary employee. Retaining people is not only good for morale and culture, but it’s good for your bottom line.
On top of that, you get to fill digital skills gaps and remain competitive.
3. You attract new, diverse talent.
If you’re looking to attract new talent and increase the diversity within your workforce, apprenticeships do this from the ground up.
Apprenticeships offer an affordable means of social mobility and allow those from under-served backgrounds the opportunity to learn new skills with fewer barriers to entry.
In the last two years, ANS has recruited technical apprentices made up of 37% ethnic minority groups, helping to drive diversity in our established technical teams.
The UK average of ethnic minority groups in technical teams is just 25%, according to a ‘Diversity in Tech’ report by the Tech Talent Charter.
Our IT apprenticeships have played a huge part in this above-average diversity rate for talent acquisition.
Apprenticeships have also been shown to increase the earnings of disadvantaged learners by 16%, helping to level the playing field and bring more diverse perspectives to your workforce.
4. Customers tend to like companies that use apprentices.
81% of consumers prefer to buy from companies that employ apprentices.
This is even more important if you work with public sector customers, where government incentives often favour companies that benefit their local community through apprenticeships and CSR.
Everybody wins.
Read the whitepaper to find out more.
How can ANS Academy as a Service help you bridge that gap?
“At ANS, we’ve got 11 years of experience working with apprentices in all sectors. Six years ago, we took the decision to become an independent training provider, creating our own digital apprenticeships. Our industry expertise means we can collaboratively build training programmes for your business’s needs. Our speciality is in cybersecurity, cloud and infrastructure. Our aim is to work with businesses to train your early career talents or the existing members of your team.”
Tom Robinson, Head of Apprenticeships at ANS
ANS Academy as a Service is a unique training solution based on 11 years of experience as an IT and cyber security apprenticeships provider with a coveted ‘Outstanding’ OFSTED rating.
Find out more about the ANS Academy here.
