CDS has outlined plans to take on a record number of apprentices this year as it looks to expand its training programmes to help meet its growing workload.
Based in Hull, CDS has a long and proud history of investing in the workforce of tomorrow and currently employs its highest ever number of apprentices.
Last year CDS took on three apprentices, all of whom undertook three-year apprenticeships, taking the total number of apprentices at the company to 10.
Danny Laybourne, a director at CDS, said: “Investing in our future workforce is vital to ensuring the longevity of CDS. However, it is as much about safeguarding our future as that of young people across the Humber region.
“There is a national skills shortage across a number of industries and the energy services industry is one of those.
“Our region has a fantastic opportunity to become the UK’s leading area for energy skills and we want to ensure we are doing all we can to make this happen.”
The latest intake of apprentices, which will be recruited throughout the year, will have the chance to work on some of CDS’s latest projects, gaining a rounded knowledge of all aspects of the company’s work and how the industry operates.
All apprentices will mix hands on industry experience with education, delivered in partnership with training provides in the region.
Its dedication to providing opportunities for young people across the Humber region to develop new skills and take their first steps into employment comes at a time when the energy services industry faces a glaring skills shortage.
Industry spotlight
Research commissioned by OPITO and conducted by Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen has predicted that over the next three years the UK oil and gas sector expects to welcome about 350 young people a year to the industry as apprentices, mainly in mechanical and electrical disciplines.
The study focused on three main areas – companies with an existing apprenticeship scheme, those with the potential to launch a scheme within the next two years and businesses that have no traineeship programmes in place.
An online questionnaire was sent to 382 companies across the industry, of which 107 replied. More than 68 per cent of respondents have an apprenticeship scheme in place or are planning on launching a programme in the next two years. Seventy-eight different programmes have been identified and a further 13 schemes have been predicted to start within the next two years.
The minimum age for the majority of the schemes analysed is between 16 and 17 years and the average duration of a scheme is three to four years. On completion, the apprentice will receive an SVQ/NVQ Level 3 or HNC qualification.
The company’s ambition to recruit a record number of apprentices comes on the back of a growing order book and after the completion of its second major expansion in less than four years.
CDS is looking to announce details of its 2015 apprenticeship opportunities in the coming months.