Jan Higgins wrote:I am glad she is learning a skill but this "apprenticeship" a seems a crafty way of getting unemployment figures down also a bit like cheap temporary labour.
The worst crafty way of getting unemployment figures down was convincing 50% of the population that they were capable of undertaking a university education, taking hundreds of thousands out of the job market for three years, and leaving many wondering why a BA in Media Studies from the University of Neverheardofit, leaves them totally unfit for gainful employment and £30,000+ in debt.
(In Germany by contrast, close to 60% of young people train as apprentices — in fields as diverse as advanced manufacturing, IT, banking, and hospitality.
This, combined with lack of investment in automation, is one of the reasons output per hour in the UK is now 36 percentage points behind that in Germany. In essence this means that the average German worker could take an extra day off every week and STILL be producing more than the average British worker.)