Apprenticeship is also known as “the bachelors degree of the construction industry.”  These job training programs come at zero cost to participants.  Most programs are multi-year curriculum that mix classroom and on-the-job training to help workers acquire specific trade skills.  Joint programs—administered cooperatively by contractors and skilled trade unions—train most of California’s skilled trade workers, and these programs have been linked to reductions in the risk of project delays and labor shortages.  

Indeed, research consistently shows that apprenticeship plays a key role in meeting our nation’s need for skilled craft workers, diversifying our construction workforce, and attaching these workers to quality careers in the construction industry.  When apprenticeship standards are attached to construction projects, the industry is almost always better positioned to replenish and sustain a stable supply of skilled trade workers who can complete critical infrastructure projects at the highest levels of safety, efficiency, and productivity.