Stipends for apprentices up 2.8% in 2020

NEW DELHI: A TeamLease report that covers around 1.5 lakh apprentices in close to 300 companies found that average stipends went up by 2.8% between 2019 and 2020, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.The report, which covered 12 cities and 18 sectors, also said stipends would rise upwards of 3% this year.The data from the 'Stipend Primer - Post-Pandemic Special' report of TeamLease Skills University’s National Employability Through Apprenticeship Programme (NETAP) found that average stipends for apprentices had risen from Rs 11,860 a month in 2019 to Rs 12,200 last year. The increase in 2019 was steeper at 8.8% — from Rs 10,900 the year before.Pune and Delhi showed the highest improvement in 2020 at 16% and 12%, respectively. Non-metros such as Ahmedabad, Coimbatore and Chandigarh also improved to better than pre-Covid levels. Apprentices in Hyderabad and Kolkata were the worst hit, getting stipends that were on average less than 5% of the previous year.The data also found that when the cost of living was factored into, it would be more feasible for candidates to move from the main “hub” cities to satellite cities or towns.The latest data used are from October 2020. The study found that while the average stipend fell significantly during the lockdown in the April and May to Rs 10,450 from Rs 11,200 in March, it improved to Rs 11,600 by October.The sectors that paid much higher in 2020 were mainly in services — in ecommerce and education, stipends went up by 39% and 34%, respectively. In the manufacturing industry, electrical and electronics (17%) and healthcare and pharmaceuticals (11%) rose the most. Within manufacturing, the FMCG, engineering, and apparel and textiles sectors had not recovered to pre-Covid levels.The worst hit were service staff in beauty and wellness (-16%) and tourism and hospitality (-15%).80470043Said Sumit Kumar, vice president – NETAP: "Given the challenges that companies were facing due to labour crunch (owing to the reverse migration driven by the pandemic), companies realised the need to invest in apprentices to build a local talent pool." He said companies are keen to hire more apprentices and open to paying them more, too. Agriculture showed an interesting trend — while stipends improved significantly in the first Unlock to Rs 12,480 from Rs 11,700 pre-pandemic, they had fallen to Rs 11,560 by October. The report cited subsequent lockdowns, persistent global tensions, shortage of equipment and supply chain disruption as the main reasons.The topmost paying job role during Covid-19 was of a production manufacturing chemist in life sciences, where apprentices got paid an average of Rs 25,160, followed by procurement and order fulfilment executives, and manufacturing assistants in life sciences.

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