Sainsbury’s and Tesco are among several companies creating more than 10,000 new apprenticeship places in the UK after a government bill announced last week.
Despite the current economic conditions, skills secretary John Denham and secretary of state for children Ed Balls unveiled the bill, which launched the National Apprenticeship Service.
Sainsbury's has recently quadrupled the number of apprentices across its stores to 465 and Tesco will have a further 800.
Other companies involved include Superdrug and Phones4u, who have committed to approximately 2,000 places, and the construction industry, which will create 7,000 places.
Skills secretary John Denham said: "This shows that we are well on the way to making apprenticeships a mainstream option for young people who want to get on. We anticipate that one in five of all young people will be undertaking an
apprenticeship by the end of the next decade.
"This government has rescued and rebuilt apprenticeships and seen their numbers dramatically increase over the past 10 years. In 1996-97, just 65,000 people started an apprenticeship. That figure nearly trebled to 184,000 in 2006-07. But we need to go much further, which is precisely why we are investing £1 billion by 2010/11.
"It's great that private sector employers are making such a
commitment to and an investment in their workforce,” added Denham.
Sainsbury's has been so pleased with its 20 pilot apprenticeships in craft bakery, butchery and fishmongery that it has expanded the number of apprentices.
Tesco has recently more than doubled the number of employees put through its apprenticeships programme to enhance the skills and careers of its staff.
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