Media analysis: Apprenticeship and Covid-19

Media Analysis
Name
Institution
Date
Apprenticeship and Covid-19
Founded in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian, the Guardian is a daily newspaper of the British, and it officially settled for this name in 1959. The Observer and the Guardian Weekly being sister papers of The Guardian, this media group is owned by Scott Trust, and they are recognized globally as a reliable media group for decades. My choice and preference of this media source is primarily for the reasons known by the general public at large; reputable media source. Additionally, the media house does thorough research on any kind of information that the public will use for general knowledge. In general, they keep the public updated with truthful information before publishing it ("History of the Guardian", n.d.).
The Guardian being a media source, published an article by Jenny Little on apprenticeship and how it could play a key role in the rebuilding of the economy in regard to post-Covid economy. The author articulates how the pandemic brought not only England, but also the whole globe to a financial standstill as of March 2020. During this time, most people were advised to stay and work from home with the aim of minimizing infections and deaths caused by Covid-19. Consequently, many businesses dropped, but some were fortunate enough not to close down completely. These businesses encouraged their apprentices to carry on with their training online, and some opted for colleges like Harlow College that offer online training. Since it was impossible to continue with regular training in respective institutions, these apprentices will have a chance of completing their training from home. Such directive might have been new to most apprentices and challenging at the beginning, but as humans we know how to adapt to change and live with it.
Little adds that England alone has had over 740,000 apprentices between 2018 and 2019, with almost 394,000 fresh start in 2019 (Little, 2021). However, a swift reaction to the pandemic was necessary whereby six out of ten employers put on hold the intake of new apprenticeships soon as coronavirus took over England. Many were shocked and confused with the emergence of the virus, and consequently saw it necessary and lifesaving to put everything on hold until everything would return to normal. Based on this reality, many people had to be withdrawn from the apprenticeship programs because of the redundancy that was evident in the data collected in December. Apprenticeship commencements for 2019 and 2010 reduced by 18%, and between the months of March and July, over 1,000 people had to be withdrawn from the apprenticeship programmmes (Little.2021).
Jenny Little in her article articulates how the pandemic negatively influenced apprenticeship schemes and how many employers are planning to resume the apprenticeship recruitment as soon as the pandemic decreases. According to interviews conducted within the article, employers in small firms found it hard for them to retain apprentice numbers when the pandemic struck. Many small businesses shelved the idea of hiring new staff since the pandemic had negatively affected apprenticeship. The recent incentives of the go...