National Apprenticeship Week 2023, which runs from 6th – 12th February, is the 16th annual celebration of apprenticeships and aims to bring together businesses and apprentices throughout the country to highlight the positive impact that apprenticeships make to individuals, businesses and the wider economy.
In line with attracting future talent into the industry, along with aftermarket apprentices, Automechanika Birmingham is also encouraging first-year, second-year and third-year students to attend its informative event in June, and embrace the many opportunities available to them.
Alex Jones, marketing director of Messe Frankfurt UK, organisers of Automechanika Birmingham, said: “The statistics don’t lie, and unfortunately the number of dropouts in the first year of college is frighteningly high for automotive courses. Not only is it important to capture the interest of fresh talent by offering attractive apprenticeship schemes and college courses, once we have these individuals on board, we need to ensure we can keep hold of them.
“A key way to achieve this is by shining a light on the vast scale of technical innovations that our exhibitors offer, as well as the myriad of training opportunities available at the show. There are a multitude of options to explore for people wishing to kickstart their aftermarket career, from getting hands on in workshops, right through to product development at manufacturer level. And with a future based around an alternative fuelled vehicle parc and autonomous driving, apprentices and students can expect a long and fruitful career in the automotive aftermarket.”
The theme for National Apprenticeship Week 2023 is ‘Skills for Life’. The week will reflect on how apprenticeships can help individuals to develop the skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career and help businesses to develop a talented workforce that is equipped with skills for the future.
As a keen supporter of ensuring next-generational aftermarket professionals are equipped with the skills to succeed in the industry, apprentices visiting Automechanika Birmingham can benefit from a comprehensive programme of more than 192 hours of free skills training, technical talks and topical discussions on current industry issues and inspiring new technology, as well as live demonstrations all presented from industry experts.
Automechanika Birmingham has also partnered with School of Thought, who will be exhibiting at June’s show, which was created specifically to address the skills and generation gap and promote all the career opportunities the industry has to offer.
Recognising very early on that there was a disconnect with education, School of Thought focused on addressing this by creating a portal with its partner in education, which is available to every student, allowing them to easily find out information about automotive careers.
School of Thought also believes in the importance of going out to meet young people face to face and its ambassadors have attended over 200 careers events to date meeting thousands of young people.
Dave Reece, founder of School of Thought, said: “This year we are planning to push on with these events and also be part of many of the national career fairs to promote all the ways young people can get into the industry, including highlighting the topic at Automechanika Birmingham. This could be through our work experience programme, apprenticeships, internships or just getting that first step on their career paths.”
Jones continued: “It’s clear that, as a sector, we need to pull together and showcase the many exciting career avenues our industry can offer, and Automechanika Birmingham offers the perfect platform to do this.”
For the first time Automechanika Birmingham will host an Automotive Talent & Skills Conference, which will take place on Thursday June 8th. Committed to addressing the issues pertaining to attracting and retaining talent in the industry, while identifying and promoting the opportunities available within the sector, the one-day conference will be a platform for everyone committed to finding solutions for the challenges the sector faces.
The National Apprenticeship Week website has more information and a toolkit to help you plan and promote your activities, which you can find more information about here.
To register to attend Automechanika Birmingham, please do so here.