Abstract
Quality apprenticeships are cost-effective and can contribute to lowering youth unemployment rates, preparing skilled workers for a rapidly changing world of work and enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises. Governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations and international organizations are calling for the improvement and expansion of apprenticeships. For example, Labour and Employment Ministers of the G20 called on their member States to take action on apprenticeships and adopted the G20 Initiative to Promote Quality Apprenticeship (refer to section 3.1.2 of Toolkit 1). Similarly, member States of the ILO will discuss establishing a new International Labour Standard on apprenticeships during the International Labour Conference in 2021. Even while the world is deliberating on the best strategies to address the current and anticipated skills mismatches due to fast changing world of work, the World Economic Forum states that the future of work requires a return to apprenticeships.