Governor Gretchen Whitmer declared the week of November 15 to 21 as Michigan Apprenticeship Week to highlight the vital role registered apprenticeships play in supporting both employers who need skilled talent and Michigan’s workers who gain skills toward rewarding, high-demand and high-wage careers. As part of this week, the governor encouraged Michiganders to consider earning while learning through a paid registered apprenticeship program./

“Registered apprenticeships offer a pathway to a good-paying career for thousands of Michiganders and help employers have access to the highly skilled talent they need to succeed, said Whitmer. “Michigan is proud to be a national leader in using the Registered Apprenticeship Program model for skill development, and we are excited about the benefits it offers students, career seekers, workers, and businesses throughout the state as we continue to work to close the skills gap. /

Michigan is among the nation’s leaders in registered apprenticeships, with nearly 20,000 active apprentices in more than 1,000 registered apprenticeship programs in 2020.

“Registered apprenticeships provide tremendous opportunity and a pathway for hardworking Michiganders to succeed in high-demand, high-wage careers,” said Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) Director Susan Corbin. “We continue to focus on the growth of registered apprenticeships in Michigan by encouraging citizens to explore opportunities to gain in-demand skills without extensive tuition debt, and by helping employers grow the needed skill talent, creating more and better jobs.”

Registered/ apprenticeship programs enable employers to immediately begin a transfer of knowledge from current to future high-value workers. They are industry-driven, high-quality career training programs in which employers develop and prepare their future workforce. Apprentices get a paycheck from day one; obtain paid work experience, related classroom instruction and a national industry-recognized credential upon program completion; and most importantly, the right skills in a new and promising career.

According to the most recent statistics available through the U.S. Department of Labor s (USDOL) Registered Apprenticeship Partners Information Management Data System, Michigan ranks fifth nationally in active apprentices (19,397), seventh in active programs (1,085) and seventh in new apprentices (5,384)./

“When celebrating this year’s Apprenticeship week, we should remind those that view building trades work as a second-rate career of the endless opportunities right here in Michigan. Michigan Building Trades Unions debt-free earn-as- you- learn registered apprenticeship programs provide a pathway to secure employment while providing high earnings and benefits,” said Steve Claywell, president of the Michigan Building Trades Council. “These apprenticeship programs offer industry driven state-of-the-art curriculum with training facilities second to none. We would like to thank Governor Whitmer for her continued support of apprenticeship programs and infrastructure investment in Michigan. The opportunity for registered apprenticeship programs to thrive in Michigan have never been greater and our time is now.”

Employers and career seekers interested in starting registered apprenticeships should visit/ www.Michigan.gov/Apprenticeship.