Enhancing Electrician Apprenticeship Selection and Retention

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Employment of electricians is projected to grow 6% annually until 2032—twice the rate of all other occupations. This rapid expansion places significant pressure on the electrician apprenticeship pipeline, which serves as the backbone of the U.S. electrical trade.

To sustain a strong and reliable electrician workforce, it is critical to implement rigorous, evidence-based strategies for apprentice selection and retention. These strategies not only ensure fairness and validity in the selection process but also support long-term success among apprentices.

The electrical training ALLIANCE (etA) is the largest electrical apprenticeship and training program in the U.S., created by the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). It has trained over 350,000 apprentices to become journeymen through local affiliates. 

Since 1992, etA has worked with AIR to develop and maintain fair, validated selection tools that help local programs choose candidates most likely to succeed.
 

Building a Strong Electrician Workforce

AIR partners with etA to keep the electrician apprenticeship pipeline effective and reliable. We provide local programs with insights to reduce attrition and ensure long-term sustainability—helping create a skilled workforce ready for future industry needs.

Our contributions include: 

• Conducting job analyses and developing validated selection tools;
• Performing test norming and transportability studies;
• Providing ongoing psychometric maintenance to ensure fairness, validity, and security of the selection test battery; and
• Revising selection materials, including interview rating guides and candidate-facing resources.

AIR also collaborates with etA to analyze retention challenges among apprentices and training program directors. Through this research, AIR has identified occupational, programmatic, and individual-level factors influencing retention to develop evidence-based recommendations to improve outcomes.