Rolls-Royce is opening its apprenticeship program. Image credit: Rolls-Royce
British automaker Rolls-Royce is opening its apprenticeship program up to a record 24 candidates this year.
Begun in 2006, the Rolls-Royce Apprenticeship Programme lets participants work beside staff at the brand’s headquarters in Goodwood, West Sussex, providing hands-on experience in fields such as woodworking and engineering. Of the total 140 apprentices who have joined Rolls-Royce over the years, many have become full-time employees and leaders within the company.
“I am delighted to announce the start of recruitment for this year’s Apprenticeship Programme,” said Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, in a statement. “We are committed to developing future talent here at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, and I am especially pleased that we will welcome a record number of new apprentices to the business in 2018.”
Education and experience
Rolls-Royce’s apprenticeship program will kick off in August this year, and the program can last up to four years. Those who are picked for the program will take on training in areas such as painting, assembly and leather working.
Along with on-the-job experience, the apprenticeship includes college and university coursework.
Each year the program has been in existence, it has raised the number of candidates accepted, allowing more apprentices to learn at Rolls-Royce.
Rolls-Royce apprentices get on-the-job training. Image courtesy of Rolls-Royce
These types of educational initiatives are an opportunity for both apprentices and the brands involved.
“Apprenticeships provide a wonderful opportunity for young people to acquire the skills needed to get on in life,” said Rt Hon Nick Gibb, minister of state for school standards and MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, in a statement.
“And apprenticeships can raise the productivity of the businesses they join,” he said. “I am looking forward to visiting Rolls-Royce Motor Cars during National Apprenticeship Week in March to see the benefits that the expansion of the scheme is providing to the business and its apprentices alike.”
Common in the United Kingdom, apprenticeships are becoming more popular overseas as well.
For instance, German automaker Mercedes-Benz is filling the need for technicians at its dealerships through a newly established apprenticeship program in the United States.
In a 16-week program, dubbed Mercedes Benz Drive, apprentices will learn skills needed to work on the brand’s models, with additional coursework in career development. Mercedes-Benz claims to be the first luxury automotive brand to create a registered apprenticeship program in the U.S., which may help it get ahead of its competitors in locating and training talent (see story).