Skip to main content Skip to site navigation

Public Sector Apprenticeship Initiative

Overview

Public Sector Apprenticeships
ILG's New Workforce Initiative

ILG is officially launching its Statewide Apprenticeship Initiative during National Apprenticeship Week, Thursday November 21, 2024. ILG’s initiative is open to California cities, counties, and special districts to pilot non-traditional Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs). RAPs have been successful to help public sector employers meet increasing labor demands by preparing and helping more Californians recognize the value of local government jobs as viable careers. According to a Calbright report, RAPs offer higher retention rates than non-apprenticed career pathways and participants advance faster than traditional hires. (Source: The Road to Optimizing California’s Public Sector Labor Market, 2024)

Working in partnership with the California Department of Apprenticeship Standards, ILG will support interested cities, counties and special districts to develop RAPs for identified high need job classifications in their local government. RAPs offer a bridge to public sector employment and careers by providing classroom or online instruction, on-the-job training, industry-recognized credentials, paid employment, and supervision. These strategies have been successful across industries as a key workforce development tool. The focus for ILG’s Initiative is on high-demand non-traditional RAPs in occupations such as accounting, human resources, IT, and health and human services, etc. Through RAPs, local governments will be able to fill critical positions, provide prospective employees opportunities to explore new careers and upward mobility, and raise awareness of and expand access to the local government workforce.

To express interest in becoming a pilot, senior staff or elected officials within cities, counties or special districts should complete this interest form. After submitting this form, ILG will schedule an initial consultation to discuss your jurisdiction’s workforce needs and goals, as well as any existing partnerships with educational institutions or labor unions.

Together, we’ll develop a scalable statewide apprenticeship program that addresses local governments workforce needs, streamlines the administrative process for local agencies to hire apprentices, and supports the unique needs of a public sector workplace. 

Funding

The 2022-2023 California State Budget invested over $231 million in apprenticeship-related spending and more than $480 million from 2022-2025. That funding included $175 million to create apprenticeship innovation funding for non-traditional programs. In addition, there are numerous federal and philanthropic funding sources available to help advance this work, particularly for programs that focus on expanding economic mobility among underserved populations, diversifying the public sector workforce and upskilling or re-skilling residents into living wage and high road careers.

Partner with Us

Developing a robust statewide network for public sector registered apprenticeships is a major initiative that will require a broad coalition of stakeholders. We welcome additional initiative partners in the public, private, nonprofit and philanthropic sector to advance this important work. Current partners include:

  • The James Irvine Foundation
  • The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation
  • High Road Training Partnership

Learn More

To stay informed about ILG’s apprenticeship initiative and learn more about how your organization can get involved, please click here.

Important Apprenticeship Resources

Log in