It took about two weeks to assemble the application, recalls Tahjay Greene, a senior at Platt Technical High School in Milford.
First he had to gather his high school transcripts, three teacher recommendations, attendance and community service records and various signatures from school administrators. Then there was the essay portion, which asked, among other questions: 鈥淲here do you see yourself in five years?鈥�
When all was said and done, Greene was among the less than 13% of applicants who were accepted this year. But it wasn鈥檛 admission to college.
Greene landed an internship building military helicopters at Lockheed Martin鈥檚 Sikorsky Aircraft, in Stratford, where he and 44 fellow high school-aged students became the newest members of the Teamsters Local 1150 this summer. They work full-time for eight weeks during the summers after their junior and senior years, and upon graduation, many receive full-time job offers at the helicopter manufacturer, making $27 to $29 an hour to start.
厂颈办辞谤蝉办测鈥檚 , as it鈥檚 known, is one of a growing number of work-based learning programs and apprenticeships that are seeing an upswing in interest in 海角换妻.
From 2020 to 2021, the 海角换妻 technical education system said participation in 鈥� where students work part-time for school credit and pay 鈥� rose by 43% to more than 1,000 students across the system鈥檚 17 schools. That far exceeded the department鈥檚 annual goal of 10% to 20% growth, according to Patricia King, who supervises the program.
, which are one- to four-year on-the-job training programs offered by employers and trade unions, have also made gains in recent years. According to the state labor department, there were almost 300 more companies employing apprentices in 2022 than there were in 2013. The number of apprentices fluctuated over that time period but has remained above 6,000 for the last six years 鈥� up from 4,618 in 2013.
鈥淲e call it 鈥榯he other four-year degree,鈥欌�� state apprenticeship director Todd Berch said. 鈥淚nstead of going to a classroom every day, you go to the world of work.鈥�
鈥淯pon graduation from college, you get a degree,鈥� Berch said. 鈥淯pon graduation from an apprenticeship, you have your career.鈥�
Policy researchers say the rising cost of higher education 鈥� and crippling student loan debt 鈥� has begun to shift popular thinking about the value of four-year bachelor's degree programs, leading to a renewed focus on career and technical education. These career paths are more affordable (often paid) and line up students with jobs in fields like defense manufacturing, where 海角换妻 has a .
In 海角换妻, which is among the top five states for defense contract spending, there are about one-third as many jobs in manufacturing today as there were at the sector鈥檚 peak in the late 1960s. And much of the current workforce is nearing retirement age.
In order to crew up for a slew of new federal contract work, 海角换妻鈥檚 defense manufacturers are working together with state agencies, community colleges and labor unions to train underemployed and unemployed workers 鈥� and to build career paths for younger students coming up through the state鈥檚 school systems.
Students like Greene stand to benefit from those programs, which are heating up almost as quickly as the competition to get in.
Greene said one of his friends applied to 厂颈办辞谤蝉办测鈥檚 鈥淐areer Pathways鈥� program and wasn鈥檛 accepted. Another friend had been 鈥渂ragging鈥� about his summer job, Greene said, 鈥渂ut once he found out that I got into Sikorsky, the first two weeks he kept texting me, 鈥楬ow鈥檚 it going? How鈥檚 Sikorsky going?鈥�
Nice work if you can get it
There鈥檚 a reason work-based learning programs and apprenticeships are so competitive: While their numbers are growing, they鈥檙e still in short supply.
Before he was accepted into the Sikorsky program, Ben Pucci, a recent graduate of the electrical trade program at W.F. Kaynor Technical High School in Waterbury, said he had a hard time finding a company that would take him on.
鈥淎 lot of the electricians, at least in my area, were so swamped with work, they didn't have enough time to train a one-year apprentice,鈥� Pucci said. 鈥淚 actually ended up working at Stop & Shop for about six months. Man, that humbled me.鈥�
For small manufacturing companies, hiring and training young, inexperienced workers requires a significant investment of time and money. And it鈥檚 hard to know whether it will pay off.
This year, at the urging of business groups, 海角换妻 lawmakers passed who take on apprentices. The credit was already available to large corporations, and smaller businesses had been urging the state to expand it.
In testimony to the legislature, representatives from dozens of companies 鈥� many of whom are suppliers to larger manufacturers 鈥� called on lawmakers to 鈥渓evel the playing field.鈥� They said it鈥檚 often the case that they鈥檒l invest in training a young employee, only to see them move on to take a job at a larger company.
鈥淭his has made training new employees an unproductive use of time and resources for smaller companies and only exacerbates the current drought of skilled labor in the manufacturing industry,鈥� Rep. Tami Zawistowski, R-Suffield, said in written testimony.
While small companies can now take advantage of that tax credit, the 鈥渄rought of skilled labor鈥� continues to strain defense manufacturers and their suppliers.
Young people, once they鈥檙e trained, are in high demand. The sector鈥檚 current workforce is aging: More than one-third of manufacturing workers in 海角换妻 , according to the state labor department.
That leverage gives young people the luxury of choices.
Briley Peters, a senior at Emmett O'Brien Technical High School in Ansonia, said some of the interns in her department saw the prospect of working at Sikorsky after high school as 鈥渁 fallback plan鈥� and were still weighing whether to go to college.
鈥淚鈥檇 say it鈥檚 split 50-50,鈥� Peters said.
To entice young employees to stay on, many companies including Sikorsky . In many cases, but not all, the certification or degree has to be job-related.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 planning on going to college,鈥� said Mikayla DePalma, a Sikorsky intern who graduated this year from Platt Tech. 鈥淏ut coming into Sikorsky, I still have the option to go to college.鈥�
鈥淚t definitely beats tens of thousands of dollars of college debt,鈥� Pucci said.
(Pucci and DePalma both accepted job offers at Sikorsky after completing their internships this fall.)
The investment can pay off for companies if it prevents employees from heading somewhere else. And it pays off for the state by keeping skilled, productive workers 鈥� and their income taxes 鈥� local.
This year, the legislature approved a tax break for businesses that offer education reimbursements to their employees, up to $5,000 a year per person. (The credit was included in the annual budget 鈥渋mplementer鈥� bill, .)
鈥淭he big guys were already doing it,鈥� Gov. Ned Lamont told attendees at a recent meeting of the 海角换妻 Business and Industry Association. 鈥淚 like to think this is one more reason [young people] want to stay in 海角换妻 and one more reason you鈥檇 want to hire them,鈥� he said.
Paying dues
In several industries, labor unions take the lead running apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs.
Unions say the training provides a path to the middle class on par with a four-year college degree. A from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, which focused on the construction sector, found that 鈥渙utcomes for participants in joint labor-management (or union) apprenticeship programs rival those for college graduates.鈥�
Stephen Herzenberg, an economist and executive director of the Keystone Research Center in Pennsylvania, says apprenticeship has been increasingly 鈥渋n vogue鈥� in the United States, in part because college education has become prohibitively expensive for many families.
Proponents often point to Germany鈥檚 education system, where to other educational paths, Herzenberg said.
鈥淚n Germany, there's basically a bifurcation in high school between your college track and the apprenticeship track,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd apprenticeship leads to lots of good and high status jobs in Germany.鈥�
It鈥檚 slowly catching on here. Presidents Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Barack Obama have all supported expanding apprenticeship programs. From 2012 to 2021, the number of new apprentices in the U.S. , according to the Department of Labor.
Major new federal investments in and are pushing unions to ramp up those programs in 海角换妻 and around the country. Union membership in 海角换妻 remains above the national average of 10.3%, though it in 2021 to 14.6%.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters runs 厂颈办辞谤蝉办测鈥檚 pre-apprenticeships. The students pay dues as part of participating, and they鈥檙e matched with mentors who they work with side-by-side for the duration of the 鈥淐areer Pathways鈥� program.
Known as 鈥渋nterns鈥� around the plant, some operate advanced machines that shape helicopter rotors and gears or work with composite materials to build the aircraft frames. Others work as electricians and mechanics on the assembly line, installing miles of wire and other components, and spending a few days on each aircraft. Shifts start at 6:00 a.m., and students earn $25 an hour for the duration of the eight-week program.
There鈥檚 a 鈥渇amily night鈥� and an offsite 鈥渓abor history day,鈥� where the students learn about contract negotiating and take a class with union historian Karin Jones. At the end of the summer, the Teamsters hold a graduation ceremony.
George Mitchell, 厂颈办辞谤蝉办测鈥檚 VP of operations, said the presence of so many inexperienced workers 鈥� and the investment of time by their mentors 鈥� hasn鈥檛 had a measurable impact on the plant鈥檚 productivity or costs. 鈥淔or the most part, it multiplies our resources,鈥� he said.
Shoring up defense
Major contracts with the Department of Defense are the driving force behind 海角换妻鈥檚 manufacturing sector, generating thousands of jobs at the big three companies 鈥� Pratt & Whitney, General Dynamics Electric Boat and Lockheed Martin鈥檚 Sikorsky 鈥� and thousands more at those companies鈥� suppliers. Statewide, defense spending makes up 8.2% of all economic activity.
In acknowledgement of the importance of that economic engine, state lawmakers this year passed emergency legislation providing up to $75 million in tax incentives to Sikorsky if the company wins a pair of to build 鈥渇uture long-range assault鈥� helicopters for the U.S. Army. The new fleet is slated to replace 厂颈办辞谤蝉办测鈥檚 iconic Black Hawk helicopters and other aircraft that the Army is phasing out. If only one of the contracts is secured, the state would be up to $50 million.
In exchange, Sikorsky must maintain its headquarters and primary helicopter production in 海角换妻 through 2042, employ a minimum of 7,000 full-time workers (roughly the same number it employs now), spend at least $300 million annually with suppliers in the state and another $70 million a year on capital expenditures.
David Lehman, commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development, said those requirements add 鈥渁 layer of assurance鈥� for Sikorsky employees and subcontractors that there will be steady work for the next 20 years.
鈥淭he first decade is the contract from the Army, and then building out the factory and the supply chain,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen you have a much stickier economic ecosystem around these new helicopters. Really, the jobs in that second decade, I think, are where a lot of the economic benefit comes from to the state.鈥�
It鈥檚 not easy for a high school student to picture where they鈥檒l be in five years, let alone 20.
But as young people in the state develop skills 鈥� via work-based learning, apprenticeships, certifications and other education supported by their employers 鈥� two decades from now, many members of 海角换妻's Gen Z could attain some financial stability.
Dave Tuttle, an instructor at Platt Tech who coordinates many of the school鈥檚 work-based learning programs, said there鈥檚 really only one group left to convince: parents.
鈥淭hey believe, like a lot of people in our society believe 鈥� that a college degree will automatically get you anything you want. No, it won鈥檛,鈥� he said.
This story was produced as part of the . The Fellowship supports reporting on career and technical education. It is administered by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars and funded by the ECMC Foundation.