29 April 2014, 14.30 – 17.00

Small and medium-sized enterprises account for around 66% of the total employment and 85% of recent recruitments in Europe. Due to a lack of human resource expertise and financial resources, small companies find it particularly difficult to hire new staff, develop their skills and keep highly skilled employees. A solution to the skills challenge can be taking up apprentices and VET students. However, many national VET systems are not adapted to small companies as they lack the necessary incentives and support structures to facilitate their involvement.

What can European and national stakeholders do to support small companies hosting apprentices?