Pros of Apprenticeship Programs
Part of our “Building Business” series appearing in Fine Homebuilding magazine.
By HELM co-founder Kate stephenson
Apprenticeship programs can be a valuable tool for residential builders to recruit, train, and retain skilled employees, offering a structured pathway for career advancement and equity in the trades.
For many years, the most common approach to skilling up new hires has been informal, on-the-job training. Apprenticeship programs were primarily the purview of unions and specific trades like plumbing and electrical that required apprenticeships for licensure. But recently, more residential builders have been establishing apprenticeship programs as a strategy to recruit, train, and retain good employees.
A formal “registered apprenticeship” is a program approved by the state or an outside organization or union that requires specific hours of paid training and classroom instruction. Such a program ensures that the apprentice learns a variety of tasks.
This is one of the main factors that distinguish apprentice carpenters from entry-level laborers. If enrolled in a formal apprenticeship, they will need to show that they have accrued hours of experience under the supervision of a mentor doing different aspects of the trade, not only with cleanup or moving materials on a job site.
For small businesses, offering a formal apprenticeship can seem daunting due to paperwork, time investment, and potential costs. (Apprentice wages are usually similar to entry-level wages, but a bulk of the cost lies in leadership and oversight.)
However, those who have made the investment have found that new employees appreciate the structure and clear benchmarks that an apprenticeship program creates. It gives them a pathway for advancement, both in terms of skill level, raises, and additional responsibility.
Continue reading at Fine Homebuilding Magazine (June 2025, Issue 331)