Apprentices 'should be guaranteed jobs'

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) conference, held yesterday in Brighton, saw a union official urge the Government to guarantee apprentices jobs upon completion of their training.

A spokesperson for Britain's largest general union, the GMB, said that the Government needs to offer job incentives in order to reduce the amount of people who drop out of apprenticeships each year.

The Government's recently proposed plan to offer 500,000 apprenticeships by 2020 was supported by the representative.

'This target is sensible. But it needs to go with guaranteed jobs on completion and payment of the national minimum wage,' the delegate stated.

Starting on Monday and due to close tomorrow, the TUC conference is being held in Brighton.

Early last month, the Secretary for Innovation, Universities and Skills, John Denham, said that a lot of UK graduates would have been better off completing apprenticeships than degree courses.