Weekly Fiscal Facts are provided to Wisconsin Newspaper Association members by the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the state’s leading resource for nonpartisan state and local government research and civic education. The Wisconsin Policy Forum logo can be downloaded here.
Even with participation in registered apprenticeships at record levels, opportunities remain to further expand these programs in specific regions and occupations of the state.
If sufficient support exists among employers and other partners, there may be opportunities to expand apprenticeship pathways in areas of the state, such as northwestern and west central Wisconsin, with few apprentices relative to the projected demand for workers in key occupations. Occupations with low ratios of apprentices to projected job openings, such as nursing or teaching, may also offer opportunities to strengthen programs.
In partnership with workforce development officials, employers may also wish to explore creating apprenticeship programs in occupations that currently lack apprenticeship pathways in Wisconsin but are available in other states, such as bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks.
Usually lasting between one and five years, registered apprenticeships offer paid, on-the-job training for their occupation. This is coupled with classroom instruction, often provided at a technical college and paid for by the employer. Once a worker completes an apprenticeship and passes a licensure exam in occupations that require a license, they achieve journey worker status and are able to earn higher wages.
Apprenticeship programs frequently are associated with the construction and manufacturing sectors, in part because those programs are some of the oldest in the state and include the occupations for which apprenticeship participation levels are highest. Some occupations in those sectors have both robust apprenticeship participation and relatively high wages, including electricians, carpenters, construction laborers, and welders. However, in other occupations such as nursing and teaching, existing apprenticeship programs are very limited, and participation is low.
A recent Wisconsin Policy Forum analysis examined 22 occupations with registered apprenticeship pathways in Wisconsin that are projected by the state Department of Workforce Development to have at least 1,000 annual job openings statewide through 2032.
We then examined 10 occupations that have strong apprenticeship programs and at least 500 annual projected job openings, and that largely pay relatively high wages. Within this group of occupations, we found significant regional variation in how apprenticeship numbers matched up with projected job openings. Comparing this ratio in each of the state’s 11 workforce development areas, we found that northwest and west central Wisconsin lag other areas of the state.
Areas of the state with high apprentice-to-job ratios include south central and northeast Wisconsin.
These regions may offer lessons for how to strengthen partnerships among regional stakeholders and recruit employers and workers that could help to increase participation in other regions.
This information is provided to Wisconsin Newspaper Association members as a service of the Wisconsin Policy Forum, the state’s leading resource for nonpartisan state and local government research and civic education. Learn more at wispolicyforum.org.
