Apprenticeship programs an effective ‘old and new’ option for many types of businesses with workforce concerns

Scott Haworth, then Dell OKC Co-site leader, addresses students participating in the first Oklahoma Career Exposure Week during the kickoff event in 2017 at Dell Inc. in Oklahoma City. Dell helped develop the first information technology apprenticeship and the first youth apprenticeship for the initiative.

Greater OKC Chamber member Dell Technologies in Oklahoma City focuses on bringing the best talent possible to provide technology support and solutions for clients around the globe. One source of that talent? The Dell Scholar Apprentice Program.

If you haven’t thought of apprenticeships as a workforce development tool, you’re not alone. Although the U.S. Department of Labor reported 585,000 apprentices in more than 23,000 registered apprenticeship programs in FY 2018, that figure represents about 0.38% of the 155.76 million people employed that year. Along with other tools and programs, apprenticeships can be a way to help fill future workforce pipelines for the higher-than-average employment growth common to many industries where apprenticeships are common. But apprenticeships can be utilized in a much wider variety of industries than you might think.

Dell Technologies not only uses apprentices as potential future tech employees, but they also utilize their program as another way of connecting with the OKC community. In fact, their program grew out of an initial idea for mentorship program with Chamber member ASTEC Charter School.

“It started off with us talking about doing a mentor program, and as we were talking to Dr. Deskin at ASTEC and we learned more about the students and about the school itself, we thought, ‘We can do more,’” said Lynae Greely, senior manager for technical support at Dell Technologies. 

Dell Technologies’ program allows high school juniors to take courses at Oklahoma State University’s Oklahoma City campus while also training under the guidance of a mentor at Dell Technologies OKC in various aspects of their business and culture, from technology to leadership, community connections and teambuilding. Initial training typically follows a six-week, five-days-and-40-hours-per-week schedule in the summer, which allows apprentices to fulfill U.S. Department of Labor Guidelines for apprenticeships.

According to a recent survey, more than 70 percent of positions in the state will require some type of post-high school training or education component, but currently only 42 percent of the workforce possess such experience or credentials. That gap can be closed through a variety of programs, including apprenticeships. Beyond raw skills, Dell is seeing even more benefits for both the apprentices and the company.

“One of the apprentices that started in 2017 actually helped interview our last round of apprentices. She tells everybody that she was terrified at first, and that she was intimidated by computers, but over the past four years, she has worked her way up and held three different roles at Dell Technologies OKC. She’s taking advantage of the opportunity like shadowing other Dell professionals and planning her next career move. So it's amazing to see the growth in them, both personally and professionally, and coming out of their shells a bit, which is awesome,” said Greely.

Greely also discussed how the apprentices have helped long-time Dell Technologies professionals by seeing how much and how quickly some of them pick up skills., Their positive attitudes are inspiring employees and fostering the community connection that Dell Technologies strives to maintain. “They’re actually helping our team members learn new skills and to think outside-of-the-box. So it’s amazing – I would absolutely recommend it.”

The U.S. Department of Labor keeps a list of apprenticeable occupations at https://www.doleta.gov/oa/occupations.cfm. These include everything from accessibility lift technician and aerospace engineers to community health workers, computer programmers, emergency medical technicians, motion picture cinematographers, telecommunications/broadband technicians and youth development practitioners. Greely discussed how apprenticeships could benefit a variety of companies and help fill workforce development pipelines for many different roles through cross-training and exposure to different aspects of a business.

“I could see somebody being an apprentice in an IT department and learning about the function overall, and then maybe they find they want to get into cybersecurity specifically. So, you start off in one area, learn that, and you start building on that knowledge and then move along. I think it's a great way to get to know any part of any business and really grow your career.”

While starting an apprenticeship program may seem daunting, Greely said Dell Technologies was able to stand up a complete program in less than three months, with initial internal discussions in June and subsequent meetings between stakeholders at Dell Technologies, ASTEC, OSU-OKC and the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development resulting in a first class of apprentices by mid-August. “Everybody just worked together. We had weekly meetings to get it moving and put everything together, and it moved very, very quickly,” Greely said.

The Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development has a program to assist businesses in starting up apprenticeship programs. The OOWD is inviting companies to apply for apprenticeship incentive grants to establish new Dept. of Labor-registered apprenticeship programs. Individual employers can apply for grants of up to $10,000, while those who apply as part of a 2-3 business “industry consortium” could be eligible for $15,000 and larger consortiums of four or more eligible for $20,000. Greely noted how helpful the OOWD was in getting Dell Technologies OKC’s program started.

“They were absolutely wonderful. Whenever we had a question, they were always right there if we needed anything. It was a very collaborative effort and couldn't have asked for better partners.”