The future of work and the future of apprenticeships

1. The Future of Work and the
Future of Apprenticeships
Sean Williams, CEO, Corndel
s.williams@corndel.com
07806 420691

2. Two big themes shaping the future of work…
• Technological advancement;
• Globalisation.
The future of work will be shaped by:
• What computers cannot (or we do not want them to) do;
• What cannot be done elsewhere.
I am going to focus on technological advancement but many of the same
considerations apply to globalisation.

3. Will there be any work at all?
• The world changes, human beings do not;
• Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren – Keynes 15 hour week;
• ‘Man is a working animal’;
• Lump of Labour fallacy;
• State of Nature arguments.

4. What computers cannot do?
• Empathy;
• Creativity;
• Non-repetitive tasks – innovation;
• Natural language – Turing Test;
• Persuasion;
• Problem solving;
• Judgement.

5. Some jobs that computers cannot (or we
might not want them to) do…
• Empathy - counsellor
• Creativity – script writer
• Non-repetitive tasks – professional sportsperson
• Natural language – author
• Persuasion – high-end sales person
• Problem solving – software engineer
• Judgement – police officer

6. Some jobs that computers cannot (or we
might not want them to) do…
• Empathy - manager
• Creativity - manager
• Non-repetitive tasks – manager
• Natural language – manager
• Persuasion - manager
• Problem solving – manager
• Judgement - manager

7. The higher up Maslow’s heirarchy we get the
less technology has to offer…

8. What this means for the future of work…
• The jobs of the future will be very human and will focus on our
higher-level needs and will require our higher-level skills;
• Rapid change will require lifelong learning;
• We will need people to programme the machines;
• We will need people to manage the machines and decide what the
machines should be doing.

9. The Future of Apprenticeships
• Training that meets the high-level skills needs of the future;
• Emphasis on lifelong learning – apprenticeships for people of all ages;
• Very high quality training that genuinely upskills employees and
makes them more productive;
• Employer-led with employers deciding what training they buy and
from whom;
• Work-based – training that is non-frictional to the employer.

10. Where we are today…
• UK employers spend less on training than other major EU economies
and less than the EU average, and the gap has widened since 2005. In
2010, the cost per employee was €266 in the UK, against €511 across
the EU;
• The UK lies fourth from the bottom on the EU league table on
participation in job-related adult learning, with evidence showing a
marked deterioration since 2007;
• Management practices account for at least a third of the differences
in productivity between firms;
• Out of 19 countries, the UK ranks bottom of the class on young
peoples’ computer problem-solving skills.

11. And the result of that under-investment…

12. Some signs of hope…
• The Apprenticeship Levy;
• A tax but one that forces companies to be rational;
• Flexible and employer-led;
• Can be spent on existing employees;
• Can be spent on people with degrees;
• Can be spent on people of any age;
• Race to quality;
• Very generous for those organisations that really understand the rules:
• NI Savings for under-25s;
• £1 in £10 rule.

13. NI Savings and the 10% Rule
• Company X employs a graduate at £22,000 per annum;
• They put them on a Level 3 Leadership and Management Diploma
that replaces/enhances their existing graduate training scheme;
• Company X select their training provider based on the quality of their
materials, ease of delivery model, quality of staff and ability to
bespoke the programme to exactly meet Company X’s needs;
• This costs Company X £500 per person going on the programme;
• Company X save £3,036 in NI savings;
• Every graduate that Company X employs that they put on the
programme makes the company over £2,500.

14. Management Training and the Levy
• Company X has an annual Levy bill of £200,000;
• Company X wants to run a programme for their ‘battlefield
promotion’ first-line managers to teach them the basics of
management;
• Company X wants to run a talent development programme for their
high-potential middle managers;
• Company X spends all of their Levy on 22 Level 3 Leadership and
Management Diplomas for their first-line managers and 15 Level 5
Leadership and Management Diplomas for their emerging talent
managers.

15. Using the Levy to reduce the recruitment and
salary costs of very high skilled workers (1)
• Company X recruits 3 experienced Developers into their development
team;
• Each Developer’s salary is £65k a year;
• Company X pays 15% recruitment fees;
• Experienced Developers stay for 2 years then leave for another
company that pays them £10k more;
• Company X recruits again;
• Five year cost: £1.06 million.

16. Using the Levy to reduce the recruitment and
salary costs of very high skilled workers (2)
• Company Y recruits 3 experienced Developers and 3 apprentice
Developers into their development team;
• Each experienced Developer’s salary is £65k a year plus 15%
recruitment fees. Each apprentice’s salary is £20k a year;
• The experienced Developers stay for 2 years then leave for another
company that pays them £10k more. The apprentice Developers are
fully up-to-speed by month 18 and stay (with salary increases) for
another 3.5 years;
• Five year saving on non-apprentice model: £268,500.

17. Invest to save recruitment models using
apprenticeships…
Cost per employee Total Cost per employee Total
Recruitment costs 15% £29,250.00 Recruitment costs -£ -£
Y1 salary and oncosts £65,000.00 £195,000.00 Y1 apprentice salary and oncosts £20,000.00 £60,000.00
Y2 alary and oncosts £65,000.00 £195,000.00 Y2 apprentice salary and oncosts £20,000.00 £60,000.00
Recruitment costs 15% £29,250.00 Recruitment costs -£ -£
Y3 salary and oncosts £65,000.00 £195,000.00 Y3 apprentice salary and oncosts £25,000.00 £75,000.00
Y4 salary and oncosts £65,000.00 £195,000.00 Y4 apprentice salary and oncosts £25,000.00 £75,000.00
Recruitment costs 15% £29,250.00 Recruitment costs -£ -£
Y5 salary and oncosts £65,000.00 £195,000.00 Y5 apprentice salary and oncosts £35,000.00 £105,000.00
£1,062,750.00 £375,000.00
£419,250.00
£794,250.00
£268,500.00
Training modelCurrent model
5 year cost of apprentices
FIVE YEAR SAVING
Cost of existing staff Y1 &Y2
TRAINING MODEL TOTAL
CURRENT MODEL TOTAL

18. Reimagining apprenticeships
Apprentices are not limited to junior or lower skilled employees.
Corndel is helping
organisations
reimagine how the
apprenticeship levy
can be optimised
to develop your
workforce
Corndel delivers
Apprenticeship
Standards that
have all been
developed in
conjunction with
leading employers
from across sectors
and industries
Our programmes
are tailored to
employers needs
We work with
employers to
deliver solutions
that are right for
your organisation