A Group Apprenticeship Program is based on an Australian model where apprentices are employed by a recruitment agency and hired out to host businesses. The program can be integrated with the existing activities of a range of organisations or it can be established as an entity in its own right.

Generally the charateristics of Group Apprenticeship Program are:

• A noble intent labour hire business for apprentices and trainees
• It’s a low margin business if the provider is to keep the service fee at a level employers will pay
• Depending on how it is integrated with the provider’s business breakeven should occur between 250 and 500 apprentices
• Above 1,000 apprentices it should be fully self supporting and robust

However some of the risks of running Group Apprenticeship Program include:

• Fail to ensure health and safety of the apprentices
• Non payment of bills by host companies
• Unethical practice by hosts
• Gross misconduct by apprentices
• Fail to identify and match apprentices with “stickability”
• Fail to meet contractual obligations
• Lack of investment to meet cash flow requirements
• Fail to develop all capabilities necessary to run a low margin noble intent labour hire company

GAP International provides MATE software and related contractual documentation to help manage this risk and optimise the success of the program.