Only 4% of employers are looking to offer hospitality apprenticeships, a survey revealed this week.
The study - conducted by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) - revealed that just 920 employers from a total of 23,000 respondents were looking to offer apprenticeships in hospitality. Most businesses that did plan to run apprenticeships were seeking to offer schemes in customer service, business administration, community and office work training.
The survey also showed that the hospitality industry was bottom of the pile when it came to registering interest in apprenticeship schemes, with less than 6% of responses coming from the sector, compared with 24% from the construction trade.
Bev King, chief operating officer for Thistle Hotels, who runs in-house training schemes as well as having 180 staff on apprenticeships, wasn't surprised by the results.
"Our Front Office Academy is more vocationally led than the apprenticeship scheme. The schemes should have more involvement from employers in terms of the work-based measurements and modules and there also needs to be continuity with assessors."
However, not all employers agree. Sir Francis Mackay, chairman of Compass, aims to increase Compass's apprentices from 800 to 2,000 over the next three years.
Stephen Gardner, director of LSC, commented: "Industries less traditionally associated with apprenticeships, such as hospitality, are currently seeing more applications for schemes than places available. An important part of our campaign is changing business perception."
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 07 April 2005