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Missouri Announces Statewide Apprenticeship Matching Service

  • September 14, 2020

The Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently announced the start of a new statewide apprenticeship matching service that helps employers with registered apprenticeship programs find aspiring apprentices.

“We finished the year last year second in the nation only behind California for new apprenticeships,” said Dr. Mardy Leathers, Missouri’s Director of Workforce Development. “That means new people starting apprenticeship programs and people completing those programs.”

The service makes it easier for Missourians to take advantage of career opportunities that apprenticeships provide. The new service will enhance Missouri’s leadership role in using apprenticeships to help train the state’s workforce.

“While we continue to have more than 12,000 registered apprentices in our skilled trades, we’re now adding three and four-thousand apprentices a year in areas like IT and education and advanced manufacturing,” said Leathers. Health care is another key area for apprentices.

Missouri’s apprenticeship program helps businesses find quality job candidates and helps workers find good-paying jobs. For apprentices who finish their program in Missouri, 83 percent of them are still employed with the company that sponsored their apprenticeship, nine months after completion.

The new service comes after Missouri Governor Mike Parson officially declared September 2020 Workforce Development Month to promote higher education and job training programs across the state.

“Missouri is finding ways to expand, modernize, sustain apprenticeships and work-based learning, enhance regional workforce development, and ensure we are building the labor force that businesses need to make Missouri the best place to live and work in America,” said Governor Parson.

Throughout September, the Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development is celebrating and raising awareness for its many job training and career advancement initiatives. The department plans to host virtual job fairs, launch the state’s new Missouri Apprentice Connect portal, host the annual Chief Local Elected Officials Summit, and reopen the remaining closed Missouri Job Centers.

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