Registered Apprenticeships are a proven solution for helping employers meet their talent needs and workers gain the skills to access high-quality career pathways. Yet only a small fraction of employers and workers participate in the apprenticeship system. Further, research shows that small and medium-sized businesses (those with fewer than 100 employees, or between 100 and 499 employees, respectively) both experience the greatest return on investment from Registered Apprenticeship programs and face the greatest financial and administrative barriers to participating in the Registered Apprenticeship system.

Why This Matters

SMBs employ nearly half of the US workforce and generate more than 40 percent of GDP, yet they often lack the staffing, financial resources, and administrative capacity needed to sponsor Registered Apprenticeship programs on their own. Without targeted support to SMBs, the US apprenticeship system risks excluding many SMBs from sharing in the benefits of the apprenticeship model and system—including stronger talent pipelines for employers and expanded pathways for workers to enter good jobs.

What We Found

To help SMBs access and benefit from the Registered Apprenticeship system, state and federal governments should strategically target apprenticeship expansion investments and technical assistance to SMBs, as they already do for employers in priority industries and geographies. Additionally, more can be done to reduce burdens on all employers by modernizing administrative platforms, developing accessible tools and resources, and promoting innovative apprenticeship models.

How We Did It

This brief combines evidence from prior research on the barriers employers face in creating and expanding Registered Apprenticeships, with insights from Urban’s small and medium-sized businesses tech apprenticeship project in North and South Carolina.