Toyota in drive to create apprentice engineers

Citation

(2014), "Toyota in drive to create apprentice engineers", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 46 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ICT-02-2014-0008

Toyota in drive to create apprentice engineers

Article Type: Notes and news From: Industrial and Commercial Training, Volume 46, Issue 3

Toyota Manufacturing UK has joined forces with seven companies in its supply chain and local area to create 21 engineering apprenticeships.

Toyota opened its apprentice-development center in Burnaston, Derbyshire, to non-Toyota companies after partnering Semta, which is the body for engineering skills for the future, the National Apprenticeship Service and Burton and South Derbyshire College.

A pilot project saw 21 recruits begin a four-year apprenticeship last September. The program has proved so successful that there are plans to increase the number for this September.

A series of events for employers is planned at the plant, with potential recruits being matched with employers during National Apprenticeship Week.

The company has written to all its supply-chain partners while Semta and the National Apprenticeship Service will promote the opportunities to other engineering companies.

Mark Evans, Toyota Manufacturing UK’s recruitment-section manager, said: "We developed a working group to ensure the training being provided is relevant and bespoke, addressing the training needs that are required by our partners. We supported the seven companies throughout the selection and recruitment process, six of these hiring apprentices for the first time. Together we assessed and interviewed candidates, comparing them against the key competences we would look for when recruiting our own apprentices."

Each candidate had an induction at his or her host company and at Toyota’s apprentice-development center, before embarking on the four-year apprenticeship with a mixture of classroom and on-the-job training leading to a National Vocational Qualification level 3 in engineering maintenance.

Mark Evans said: "We strongly believe in supporting the development of young people, engineering companies and our supply chain through this project. Our training is over and above the basic requirement, producing highly skilled employees who will take these businesses forward, make our suppliers more competitive and help to reduce our costs in the long term."

Toyota ran an internal-adult apprenticeship scheme from 1996 to grow its own talent and developed this to accommodate young people from 2007. The success of recruiting young people led to Toyota opening its own on-site apprentice-development center in 2009, with the capacity to train up to 36 adult and young apprentices every year.

"Every apprentice recruited had a permanent job with an exciting career at the end of the training," said Mark Evans. "The scheme has improved staff retention resulting in a reduced need over the next few years. This has given us the capacity to share our apprentice-development center with others."

Ann Watson, chief operating officer for Semta, said: "This is a brilliant partnership, providing world-class training through a world-class company in world-class facilities.

"It is delivering skills for young people to the benefit of the wider East Midlands and the UK economy as a whole. As an employer-led body we are delighted to support this excellent initiative."