Could New Apprenticeships Drive Increased Forklift Training?

The government’s shift of emphasis towards getting more young people into training might mean more apprentices training to drive forklift trucks. If this happens, there will be a lot more demand for forklift truck instructors and, as a result, instructor training.

For many years, there has been growing concern that a focus on getting more young people into university was leading to the neglect of the skills others needed to thrive, with a growing population of NEETS (Not in Education, Employment or Training).

The latest data from March this year showed that:

• 1.01 million 16-24 year-olds were classed as NEET
• This made up 13.5 per cent of this demographic
• It was the first time there were over a million NEETs since 2013

Could Solutions To The NEET Problem Be On The Way?

Successive governments have made some noises about increasing apprenticeships, but Andy Burnham’s arrival in Number 10 has led to a renewed focus on technical qualifications, with schools set to offer more of these.

Mr Burnham said the notion had been perpetuated that those not going to university were “second class citizens”, which he declared was “just not right”.

If the government can ensure more young people pursue technical qualifications, it will increase demand for those with the skills to train them.

That would require, among other skills, more people who are qualified forklift truck drivers to undertake training to become instructors, in order to deal with increased demand for teaching in this area.

Of course, it may be argued that the demand could be constrained by any ongoing failures to achieve strong economic growth, but others may argue that having a broader skills base in areas like manufacturing and technical skills can encourage investment and growth.

That growth could then take place in the knowledge that, thanks to an increase in trainers, there would be ample trained people who can operate forklift trucks in increasingly busy factories, warehouses and construction sites.