If you’re like many small and mid-sized manufacturers (SMMs), you’re likely running leaner than ever, but still have open positions to fill. And every gap hurts. Overtime increases, staff get stretched thin, and training quality is inconsistent. Not to mention the costs of onboarding new employees and the time existing employees must take away from other duties to bring them up to speed.
There is good news, however. You don’t have to rely on external sources to find your next hire. You can grow them yourself, and create your own talent pipelines. Structured apprenticeships offer a predictable and cost-effective way to not only steady your talent pipeline, but also foster the next-generation skills needed to make the most of technology.
And, despite many SMMs’ assumptions, you don’t have to be a large enterprise to see real ROI from apprenticeships. In fact, the math may even favor smaller manufacturers. Here’s why apprenticeships should be on your radar as we head into a new year.
Where it Hurts: Overtime, Turnover, and Costly Onboarding
IMEC often hears that the biggest workforce cost facing SMMs isn’t payroll. It’s everything that happens when you can’t fill the skills gap with the workers you need:
- Increased overtime to fill missing roles
- Senior technicians filling entry-level gaps just to get work done
- Weighty temporary staffing fees
- Quality and consistency issues from inexperienced hires
- Loss of critical niche skills through poor training
- Slow and costly onboarding holding back productivity
The longer you have to work around talent gaps, the more the impact snowballs. But long-term apprenticeship programs can change this equation entirely.
Why? You’re not hiring raw, inexperienced employees. You’re building and sustaining a loyal pipeline familiar with your equipment and processes, and who are already part of your workplace culture.
This alone helps to keep budgets tighter and workers longer. And on the worker side, it gives a structured way to “earn as you learn,” whether entry-level or upskilling, and repositions manufacturing as an exciting, skilled career path. In short, a win-win for everyone.
The ROI Adds Up, Fast
As IMEC explores in its latest flagship white paper, the typical ROI for apprenticeships is 44.3%. That means every single dollar invested returns $1.43 to the manufacturer. This is driven not only through the direct impacts we mentioned above—immediate access to a skilled, familiar workforce and more structured learning—but also indirect benefits that tackle all of those pain points.
Reduced Overtime
With a reliable talent pipeline, you reduce labor gaps. Apprentices contribute productive work even while training, lowering the burden on other staff and reducing overtime hours.
Faster Onboarding, Higher Skills
Instead of informal “Just follow Joe around” training, apprentices have a competency-based roadmap with final certifications. This means:
- Faster time to full productivity
- Fewer unfamiliarity errors
- Less rework and wastage
- Consistent, reliable skills across every shift
Lower Turnover
What’s even better? Apprenticeship hires stay longer. Overwhelmingly so. 93% of graduating apprentices stay with the company. Nationally recognized credentials and structured mentorships, with clear wage progression from the start, mean apprentices become invested in your company’s success. As you were in theirs.
Higher Productivity
This one’s easy. Trained workers make better decisions and work more safely. They have the skills to troubleshoot faster, and the confidence to do the job. And you can fill emerging talent gaps as they occur. This drives output, without increasing headcount.
Automation Doesn’t Replace Talent, It Demands More Talent
Apprenticeship programs can also help trainees develop the new skills needed for Industry 4.0. The next generation of manufacturing talent won’t just be pushing buttons while a robot does the work. They will be the ones repairing them, running smart machine centers, interpreting real-time sensor data, and keeping even the most connected factory working smoothly.
The future of manufacturing demands:
- Robotics technicians
- Smart machine operators
- Digital quality specialists
- Industrial cybersecurity
Here’s the catch: There are even fewer skilled AI and automation workers than there are “traditional” manufacturing workers. 36% of roles are unfilled, with a four million shortage of workers.
Then consider the knowledge chasm between a fresh-faced graduate with automation skills who’s never stepped foot on the factory floor and a seasoned manufacturing insider.
Modern manufacturing doesn’t just need technological skills. It needs the industry insider knowledge to apply them to the manufacturing environment. You can sit and wait for external programs to eventually produce manufacturing-savvy technologists. Or you can grow your own reliable pipeline, and succeed with automation now—before your competitors do.
Apprenticeships are one of the only training models that blend:
- Hands-on, real-world experience with formal learning
- Expert mentorship with structured skills development
- Recognized credentials with insider insight
All while offering a productive worker familiar with your layout and culture.
Apprenticeships Build the Workforce You Wish You Could Hire
You don’t need a big team, a large budget, or a formal training department to build apprenticeship programs that deliver ROI and fuel your automation goals both short- and long-term. You only need:
- One role with persistent turnover
- One production bottleneck
- One skilled senior employee ready to mentor
It’s surprisingly easy to establish a registered apprenticeship program in Illinois. Especially with a partner already offering the tools, information, and support you need to make it a success. IMEC can handle administering and managing your Department of Labor-registered apprenticeship program so that you can focus on running the program and not the paperwork. We are also ready to support your long-term workforce strategy beyond registration and administration, helping you develop the talent you need in apprenticeship programs without the headaches.
Start small. Prove the value. Scale with confidence.
If you need help designing, launching, or sustaining your apprenticeship programs, IMEC is ready to guide you every step of the way. And if you want to learn more about apprenticeships, download our in-depth and data-backed white paper, and discover exactly why apprenticeships are your best path to a skilled, reliable workforce: for today, and to build tomorrow.
*This blog was developed through the combined expertise of contributors from IMEC and Goodman Lantern.
