Executive Summary

In the 2022 legislative session, the Virginia Office of Education Economics (VOEE) at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) was asked to provide data analysis on registered apprenticeships in Virginia. This was a two-step process. The first step was contained in budget item 364,1 which directed the Office of Registered Apprenticeship at the Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) to provide VOEE with its existing data on registered apprenticeships by December 31, 2022, and to update those data quarterly thereafter. The VOEE and DOLI teams decided to use the federal Registered Apprenticeship Partners Information Database System (RAPIDS). Data is updated in the RAPIDS system once a year, so an annual pull from this database will fulfill the first step. The second step, House Bill 718 (Filler-Corn)/Senate Bill 661 (Lucas) directed the Virginia Board of Workforce Development to collaborate with DOLI, the Department of Education, and the Secretaries of Labor, Education, and Commerce and Trade to review the performance of current apprenticeship programs in meeting high-demand industry needs. 2 VOEE was tasked with analyzing the DOLI data. This paper serves as the deliverable for the second charge. While the full paper provides data on youth apprenticeships and apprenticeships by region, this executive summary focuses on the findings that emerged from data analysis on registered apprentices statewide.

Below is a summary of registered apprenticeship in Virginia for Fiscal Year 2021.

■ 11,781 active apprentices

■ 1,598 apprenticeship completers

■ 3,960 new apprentices

■ 1,614 apprenticeship sponsors

■ 119 distinct apprentice occupations (by Standard Occupational Classification)

■ Median starting wage: $14.25

■ Over 80% of active apprenticeships fall within occupations most traditionally associated with skilled trades:

Construction and extraction-related (6,581)

Installation, maintenance, and repair (1,934)

Production (1,062)

Our examination of statewide demographic data on registered apprentices revealed the following:

■ While the most common age of a new apprentice was 19, substantial numbers of workers began apprenticeships later in their lives. Among active apprentices in FY21, the median starting age was 26, and a quarter of apprentices were 32 years of age or older. Only 12% began apprenticeships after the age of 40.

■ Regarding racial composition, registered apprentices appear to roughly mirror Virginia’s population, although data on race is not available in the RAPIDS dataset for 11% of registered apprentices in the state. Of those who reported on race/ethnicity, 68% identified as White, 18% as Black, 8% as American Indian or Alaska Native, and 2% as Asian.

■ The majority (76%) of registered apprentices were high school graduates.

■ The majority (86%) of registered apprentices were male.

■ Veterans were represented among Virginia’s registered apprentices at a somewhat lower rate (6%) than they were represented in Virginia’s overall adult population (10%).