By 2026, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the healthcare and social assistance sector will add nearly 4 million jobs—about one-third of all new jobs in the country.
Healthcare employers across ambulatory settings, hospitals, and nursing or residential care facilities are increasingly finding it difficult to fill positions at all levels through traditional means. Apprenticeship offers a talent solution to healthcare employers.
The apprenticeship model has long been synonymous with the building trades, but other sectors are increasingly embracing it to meet their current and future workforce needs. The healthcare sector has always valued work-based learning and is now poised to take it to the next level by customizing apprenticeship’s earn-and-learn model to build its workforce.
Engaging more healthcare employers to provide real-world work experiences to students and workers will strengthen the healthcare workforce and pipeline in order to meet Americans’ increasing health needs.
On Tuesday, October 30, JFF's Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning partnered with the East Bay Health Workforce Partnership, California Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS), and the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) to host a working session on the challenges and workable solutions to utilizing the apprenticeship model to meet California’s healthcare workforce needs
Event participants explored the application and expansion of registered apprenticeship, pre-apprenticeship, and related models (such as enhanced on-the-job training). The working session:
- Convened a targeted group of healthcare employers and practitioners with apprenticeship experts;
- Provided information and resources to help participants develop, implement, and expand apprenticeship programs in California; and
- Featured senior healthcare leaders who discussed why and how apprenticeship has been effective for them and key steps for replicating their efforts.
