Amazon throws weight behind tech apprenticeship program for veterans
Amazon has reached an agreement with the US department of labor to form a registered apprenticeship program geared toward training veterans for tech roles within the world’s largest online retailer.
ApprenticeshipUSA will enable participants to earn a salary while they train and is being championed as a key plank in the businesses efforts to recruit 25,000 veterans and spouses of military employees within five years.
US secretary of labor deputy Chris Lu said: ”We are pleased that Amazon is joining the remarkable group of forward-looking organizations that are pursuing innovations in apprenticeship for the 21st century. Partnerships like this one have reinvigorated our nation’s apprenticeship system, creating opportunity and pathways to prosperity for hundreds of thousands of Americans that will last for years to come.”
The initiative has already attracted over 200 employers, colleges and organisations keen to take advantage of the few programs to be offered by a major tech employer.