How the Apprenticeship Levy Can Help Transform the Rail Workforce

Providing the skills we will need to maintain the intelligent rail network of the future is undoubtedly a challenge. New technologies and new ways of working add to the already significant task of replacing the skilled people who are nearing retirement, or who might not be available post-Brexit.

There’s no single approach or initiative that can resolve an issue of this scale – it’s a case of concerted effort on a number of fronts. But there’s one opportunity that the sector isn’t making anything like enough use of. Apprenticeships are probably the most under-utilised means we have to tackle the sector’s skills needs.

Back in April, Personnel Today reported that over £1bn of the funds paid into the levy had not been withdrawn. Just 10% of the money collected from employers had been used in the first year.

Those figures cover the whole of the UK economy, but few, if any, sectors face skills challenges of the scale and complexity that we do in construction and engineering. If we could make the whole of the funding paid through the apprenticeship levy work for us, we’d be well on our way to a solution.

New Pathways Within Osborne Infrastructure

Within our Infrastructure business, we are developing apprenticeship pathways across a number of disciplines: trade, site management, quantity surveying and BIM.

Our first two apprentice site managers are engaged on the Gade Valley Viaduct project, which involves the intersection of road and rail with an over-rail bridge. The apprentices were recruited through West Herts College, with whom we are developing a close working relationship. Our work together includes site visits, work placements and apprenticeship programmes.

We’ve also engaged our supply chain in the programme to offer our apprentices exposure to the widest possible range of experiences and processes.

Making the most of the levy and the apprenticeship opportunity means learning to work in different ways. This is a good thing. Sticking with what we know was never going to solve the problem.

Every sizeable business has to contribute to the levy. So, it makes no sense to leave funds unused. This is particularly true in the rail sector where there is such an urgent need to transform how we find, recruit and develop the talented people we need.

Find out more about our Infrastructure projects here.