Many organisations in the UK have never considered apprentices, despite evidence that they are highly valued, according to a report by The Adecco Group UK and Ireland.

The report, Closing the Skills Gap: Will Apprenticeships Deliver the Workforce of Tomorrow?, shows that 25% of organisations have never hired apprentices. Furthermore, 27% of respondents state that a popular reason for not employing apprentices is that they feel an apprenticeship qualification is not well suited to their business need.  This is followed by the idea that apprenticeships require too much time from the management team (18%), and the worry that they are too much of a long-term commitment in the current market (11%).

Meanwhile, the report states that employers do seem to understand some of the benefits of apprentices versus graduates, with apprentices believed to integrate better into company culture (according to 47% of respondents) and respondents thinking apprentices have a longer duration of employment (44%).

“These findings are worrying in light of the recent introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy,” Chris Moore, President of Group Operations, The Adecco Group UK and Ireland, said. “We need to be promoting the tangible workplace benefits that apprenticeships offer in terms of culture-fit and tenure. We might just find that apprenticeships become the key to our country’s success if Brexit creates further talent gaps.”

The report also shows that it’s not just skills shortages amongst Britain’s youth that apprenticeships could target. It found that more than 40% of the over 50s lack digital skills. Adecco states that this could be effectively introduced during advanced apprenticeships.

“The Apprenticeship Levy opens up new opportunities for workplaces to bring older workers’ digital skills up to speed. It’s time we stop thinking about apprenticeships as ‘less-than’ degrees and recognise the very real value they fulfil in the workforce,” Moore said.

The UK’s apprenticeship Levy came into effect last month with the Government stating that the levy will fund 3 million new apprenticeships by 2020 with companies spending £3 billion a year to contribute to the funding.