Low employer participation remains the single largest barrier to apprenticeship expansion, and many employers that are new to apprenticeship ask, "What is the ROI?" Some countries, notably Switzerland and Germany, use robust ROI evidence to improve their apprenticeship systems by ensuring employers remain actively engaged and offer enough apprenticeship opportunities. However, in the U.S., a lack of measurement infrastructure and dramatic variation in program design prevent us from producing the kind of average ROI statistics that would give an individual employer a reliable sense of what to expect.

While we build better measurement infrastructure over the long term, intermediaries should focus on helping employers get a better sense of how they can optimize their ROI in the meantime. 

Join AFA , Annelies Goger, and the Bay Area Council for an in-depth examination of the latest research, including Brookings Metro’s report, Building an evidence base for the business case for apprenticeships, and the Bay Area Council's The Employer Case for Apprenticeships in California. We will discuss how to shift the dialogue with employers, what we can learn from international evidence, and the next steps for research in this important field.