Tag Archives: apprenticeship

Apprenticeships offer alternative source of labor supply, career for workers

Apprenticeships are a valuable workforce training option to help combat Idaho’s current labor challenges. Apprenticeship’s “earn while you learn” method allows for a more financially viable education than a traditional degree by combining classroom and on-the-job training for a more holistic educational experience.

As technology changes how and where we work, apprenticeships have the ability to adapt to changes in employer needs faster than a traditional degree and can be a win-win workforce solution for employees and employers.

Current labor market and future needs of employers

The following graph helps illustrate how the current labor market has evolved since 2015. Before the pandemic, the number of job postings and unemployed persons had a stable trend. When the pandemic hit, the number of unemployed spiked, but returned to its pre-pandemic level fairly soon. Job postings did not fall back to pre-pandemic levels, leaving the demand (job postings) outstripping supply (available workers), creating a current labor shortage of roughly 1.75 job openings per unemployed person in Idaho.

Graph: Idaho unemployed compared with job postings 2015-2023

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Apprenticeship highlighted in July with Labor’s scheduled webinars

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: July 5, 2023
Media Contact: Craig.Shaul@labor.idaho.gov and Kandi.Rudd@labor.idaho.gov

Two webinars in July hosted by the Idaho Department of Labor will showcase how Registered Apprenticeships are a valuable investment to businesses.

The first webinar takes place on Tuesday, July 11, from 11 a.m. to noon MDT via Zoom.

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Apprenticeship Spotlight: Precision Propeller taps veterans to help strengthen its business

Veterans Brandon McCullough and Jeremy Coak, at Precision Propellor Services, work together by giving a propellor the proper parts to make it safe for flight. Veterans Brandon McCullough and Jeremy Coak work together at Precision Propeller Services to make sure a propeller has the parts it needs for a safe flight.

Hiring in industries that don’t require a college degree can be challenging. Certain industries need highly trained individuals to meet job requirements. Registered Apprenticeship programs help meet that need by providing on-the-job training to create a qualified professional.

For Ted Chester, owner of Precision Propeller Services in Boise, the Idaho Registered Apprenticeship program gave his company the talent with the skills they need to learn how to craft various propellers. Chester has been using the program for three to four years to grow his business.

“I was really impressed. The Idaho Department of Labor apprenticeship team walked me through all the steps for creating a Registered Apprenticeship,” Chester said. “It was a good experience.”

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Apprenticeship Spotlight: Hard work pays off for three machine operator graduates

Students who obtained their machine operator apprenticeship credential stand with their mentors.

Pictured left to right: Owner of High Desert Milk Karla Robinson, High Desert Milk instructor Tory Bailey, Luis Arevalo, Guillermo Martinez, Juvencio Trejo, plant manager Shawn Burton and Bob Snyder.

For student Guillermo Martinez, the Registered Apprenticeship program paved the path to his career.

“The program gave me a head start in life and helped get me ready to work 12 hour shifts. I have learned so much from the plant (High Desert Milk), and I feel I have a better chance of getting hired at other plants,” Martinez said.

The Idaho Department of Labor connects Idahoans to Registered Apprenticeship opportunities in the Gem State to expand and diversify the workforce. And the machine operator apprenticeship is graduating skilled workers in south central Idaho.

The Magic Valley area is host for multiple U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) Registered Apprenticeship sponsorships. Various sponsors include the College of Southern Idaho, McCain Foods and High Desert Milk. They each have programs designed to train employees in operation maintenance for manufacturing, packaging, dehydration and use of other machines within a facility.

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Apprenticeship Spotlight: Idaho Health Care Association helps women excel

More Idahoans than ever before are using Registered Apprenticeship as a path to advance their job opportunities. For women in the workforce, apprenticeships like those managed by Idaho Health Care Association (IHCA) have proven beneficial in transforming their careers and filling gaps in Idaho’s labor market.

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8th Grade Career Explorations curriculum now teaches Idaho students about apprenticeship

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Jan. 11, 2023
Media Contact: Jolene.Montoya@idla.k12.id.us

Idaho students will be able to take the updated 8th Grade Career Explorations course containing a brand-new apprenticeship lesson starting this spring.

The Idaho Digital Learning Alliance and the Idaho Department of Labor’s Apprenticeship Idaho team have created a new online lesson to meet the needs of the state’s students, businesses and industry sectors. The new class is the first collaboration of its kind between government, businesses and educators in promoting the occupational success of Idaho’s youth.

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Idaho’s First Lady reads new children’s book to kick off Apprenticeship Week

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: Nov. 17, 2022
Media Contact: Gina.Robison@labor.idaho.gov

Idaho First Lady Terea Little holding Booper Dreams Big children's book

Teresa Little at reading event

“Booper Dreams Big: An Almost True Story of Apprenticeship,” is a new Idaho children’s book released today as part of National Apprenticeship Week in Idaho (Nov. 14-20).

Idaho’s First Lady Teresa Little read the new children’s book to a class of third graders at Owyhee Elementary in Nampa as an early kick-off of National Apprenticeship Week. Continue reading →

Apprenticeship collaboration connects Idaho health clinics with talent

Mariah Aripa holds her dental assisting apprenticeship completion certificate.

Mariah Aripa holds her dental assisting apprenticeship completion certificate. Photo courtesy of ICHCA.

Idaho’s labor market has been tight since the pandemic, particularly for specialized industries like health care.

Health clinics already face a heavy administrative burden and managing and paying for training is a big obstacle that gets in the way of staffing and talent recruitment. The Idaho Community Health Centers Association is trying to solve this problem through apprenticeship training and funding coordination. Continue reading →

Idaho Apprenticeship Program Allows Quality Electric to Train Women for Highly Skilled, Good-Paying Jobs

Karelyn Kruger, 45, is in her second year of a five-year training program as an electrical apprentice for Quality Electric in Boise. She’s creating a second career after working in retail and raising two children.

photo: hand holding electrical cables“I’m older than the average student,” she says with a wry grin. “I’m too old to go into debt and go back to college, so it seemed like a great opportunity to learn a trade, and they’d pay for my education while providing on-the-job training.”

Kruger had to pass an aptitude test, math test and have a GED or high school education to get into the Southwest Idaho Electrical Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee (JATC) program. Once you pass those tests, “you’re guaranteed a job” while you work under the supervision of an experienced journeyman electrician, she  says.

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Apprenticeship Profile: Idaho Forest Group creates new careers for its employees.

Billie Jo Spencer, a filer bencher apprentice at the Moyie Springs sawmill near Bonners Ferry for Idaho Forest Group (IFG), has been moving up the pay scale by increasing her job skills through IFG and Idaho Department of Labor apprenticeship programs.

Billie Jo Spencer

Billie Jo Spencer

The Moyie Springs mill produces about 200 million board feet of dimension lumber products per year. It requires a skilled work force to keep the mill running smoothly and efficiently, IFG officials say.

Spencer started working for IFG 12 years ago, driving a fork lift. She completed the Filer-Fitter apprenticeship a couple years ago, and she’s working on her second apprenticeship as a saw filer.

“I’m always learning something,” she says. “I’m putting teeth in the saws and welding the shoulders.”

photo: workers cutting lumber

There are three levels of being a filer bencher, Spencer says. She’s on level one right now, and hopes to continue to move up to the higher levels. IFG mills are highly automated for efficiency. At the Moyie mill, raw logs are rough-cut by special machinery as they enter the mill on a conveyer belt. Farther down the line, the large blocks of wood are sawed into stud lumber in 8- and 9-foot- long sections. Continue reading →