The Value of Inclusive Apprenticeships

There are significant financial benefits to offering an inclusive apprenticeship program and hiring people with disabilities as apprentices. Apprenticeship intermediaries are eligible for incentives to support their programs and reduce costs, and, in turn, employers who make inclusion a priority and actively recruit and hire apprenticeship graduates (especially those with disabilities) can save time and money throughout all stages of the employment process.

View this Resource

Stories of Success

How Inclusive Apprenticeships Advanced the Careers of People with Disabilities

Featured Apprentice Tony Granillow. Solutions Architect, Amazon Web Services

Featured Apprentice Bobby Moran. Systems Engineer, E.W. Scripps

We interviewed apprentices, including those with disabilities, to get their perspectives on how participating in an inclusive apprenticeship program helped them launch their careers.

Go to the Success Stories page

Resources

Designing Inclusive Apprenticeships Guide
A Guide for Recruiting & Training Apprentices with Disabilities

Perspectives Guide on Apprenticeship
What Employers Should Know About the Value of Inclusive Apprenticeship Programs

Value of Inclusive Apprenticeships
Find tips for calculating the return on investment of inclusive apprenticeship

Advancing Your Career Through Inclusive Apprenticeship
An apprenticeship program does more than just train you for a job. It can provide you with the skills you need to have a successful, lifelong career.

View more resources

Podcast

How an Inclusive Apprenticeship Led to Marketable Skills in IT: A Neurodiverse Apprentice Shares His Success Story

Earl DubeEpisode 15: Earl Dube, a graduate of the Bridge to Opportunity IT program who identifies as neurodivergent, shares his journey as an apprentice and his successful transition into an IT career. He provides advice to other job candidates with disabilities, as well as to employers of neurodiverse candidates on how job seekers can access inclusive apprenticeships. He also discusses how employers can create inclusive workplaces as a way to broaden their access to a large talent pool of tech professionals.

Listen to the podcast and read the transcript

Events

Webinar - Inclusive Apprenticeships: Shaping Your Community’s Workforce


Communities across the country are turning to apprenticeship programs to build a skilled workforce. When these programs are designed to be inclusive, they can support your local organizations as they build more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible workplaces.

Read the webinar transcript

What is PIA?

PIA collaborates with employers and apprenticeship intermediaries to design inclusive apprenticeship programs that meet employer talent needs and enable people with disabilities to gain credentials and skills to succeed in growing industries. Learn more about PIA.

Taking apprenticeships to the next level

Apprenticeship programs help employers train their future workforce and enable individuals to gain paid work experience and training. The Partnership on Inclusive Apprenticeship (PIA) helps design diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible apprenticeship programs that are available to all.

PIA’s Impact

Since our launch, PIA has made a significant and measurable impact. Review this snapshot of what our team has accomplished since we started our work in October of 2020.

Go to PIA’s Impact Page

Benefits of inclusive apprenticeships

  • Inclusive apprenticeships help employers build a diverse and inclusive workforce of trained professionals, and employers that invest in hiring persons with disabilities receive financial benefits.
  • Inclusive apprenticeship programs create employment opportunities for people with cognitive, physical, mental health, and sensory disabilities.
  • People with disabilities enrolled in inclusive apprenticeship programs earn money while they gain on-the-job training and life-long skills to succeed in high growth, high demand fields.
  • Apprenticeship intermediaries focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility can reach underrepresented groups and create career pathways for people with disabilities in the current and future workplace.
  • Employers can benefit from hiring people with disabilities through increased revenue, greater retention, attraction of a more diverse customer base, and a more inclusive and accessible workplace culture.

Employers who champion disability inclusion earn 28% higher revenue.

View Report (PDF)

Why now?


There’s a wealth of untapped talent

Inclusive apprenticeship programs can drive career pathways for youth and adults with disabilities in growing industries including clean energy, healthcare, IT, cybersecurity, and more.


Employers seek skilled workers

Recruiters are concerned about finding quality talent (PDF). Inclusive apprenticeship programs can bring a wealth of untapped talent to fill critical positions.


Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility
(DEIA) is a priority

Organizations are investing in DEIA. Inclusive apprenticeships can help employers build a more inclusive workplace and adhere to regulations related to hiring diverse employees, including those with disabilities.


Telework is
expanding

Telework offers opportunities to attract untapped talent. Inclusive apprenticeships help employers identify a new pool of candidates and understand the accessibility needs of employees.