News

At the moment it seems that everywhere you turn all the news is bleak in regard to financial forecasts. Ugly words like downturn, recession, depression and crisis appear on a daily basis in our newspapers and media reports. On a slightly brighter note however it would seem that there are also many tips available as to how to survive the Global Economic Crisis and employers in particular are keen to do everything possible to ensure a future for their business and their employees.

In the majority of businesses salaries and wages is one of their largest expenses. So when times are tough employers look to cut this expense or do everything possible to ensure that maximum productivity is coming from all members of staff. More than ever minimizing expenditure and maximizing revenue seems to drive businesses.

Employers who employ apprentices show a real commitment to the longevity of their business and also to the skilling of the workforce for the future. This commitment should be encouraged and supported by government and all forms of industry. The down side of having an apprentice for many employers is the need to release them for considerable blocks of time to access training. This can be exceedingly disruptive and expensive for the employer in terms of productivity as these blocks may not coincide with the ebbs and flows in a business.

Employers with apprentices understand the need for this training but more and more are finding the loss of productive time is hard to align with the need for productivity. For example in wet weather when no work can be done training would be a good option but who can predict the weather when training blocks are being set. In the same way when the business has lots of work on and deadlines to meet it is often difficult to release an apprentice in the face of loss of revenue.

More and more employers are choosing Blue Dog Training in these difficult times to help support them in their commitment to the training of apprentices. The Blue Dog Training flexible system of training means that apprentices and employers can choose when the training occurs to the benefit of not only the apprentice but the business productivity as well. The innovative approach to training means that workers are available when they are needed to work. Training also becomes far more relevant when it coincides with what is happening on the job.

Financial trends seem to follow a boom or bust cycle. Just as we have seen the dramatic fall in the markets in the last 12 months it is certain that eventually they will rise again. When the boom comes and the employment levels rise it is essential that we have prepared a skilled workforce. The skilled worker of tomorrow is the apprentice of today and in spite of difficulties of today our commitment to ongoing training must be high if we are to learn anything from the serious skills shortages that we have experienced in boom times of the past. The flexibility of Blue Dog Training is ensuring that employer's commitment to apprentice training is well supported in these difficult times while allowing for maximum productivity.