The use of the apprenticeship levy to introduce hospitality apprenticeships: Dr Gail Hebson and Dr Clare Mumford, University of Manchester

Event Date: 20 June 2019

Speakers: Dr Gail Hebson & Dr Clare Mumford, Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester

Time: 1-2pm

Location: Strathclyde Business School, Cathedral Wing, CW406a

This presentation will report on case study findings of the use of the apprenticeship levy to introduce hospitality apprenticeships for university catering staff. In April 2017 all UK employers in the public and private sector with a pay bill of over £3 million were required to contribute to the apprenticeship levy (0.5% of their annual pay bill), a policy designed to counteract the long-term decline in employer investment in training in the UK. Using case study research with university HR managers, catering managers and catering staff, we report on staff experiences of the apprenticeships. The longitudinal element of the research shows that for the majority of workers’ initial scepticism and trepidation about the apprenticeships, turned to hope and then to disillusionment because of a lack of support and very limited learning. 

In the context of these experiences, the presentation will focus on the ways the institutional context of the apprenticeship levy led to the ‘coercive undertones’ (Dundon and Rafferty, 2018) of management and training providers. The university targeted the use of the apprenticeship levy on hospitality staff and framed this in the language of social responsibility and being a good employer to some of its’ lowest paid groups of workers. However this meant that the predominantly female catering staff felt they had no choice but to participate in the training and felt they were unable to withdraw. Significantly, the apprenticeship was introduced at a time of staff restructuring, recruitment freezes and growing insecurity and it became a source of work intensification rather than a lever for improved job quality. We will use these employee experiences to reflect on the importance of subjective definitions of job quality (Knox et al, 2015). The case will show how HR narratives of social responsibility and being a ‘good employer’ can become ‘irresponsible’ if they are based on decontextualized and managerial definitions of what is beneficial and good for workers.

Published: 18 June 2019