LIVERPOOL city region had more than 15,000 young people claiming jobseeker’s allowance last month.

They are part of the 951,000 people under the age of 25 who are out of work – a youth unemployment rate above 20%.

That is a record level (albeit with the caveat that records only date back to 1992) and is the biggest concern around jobless levels, which are still 500,000 below the feared landmark of 3m.

Graduate unemployment is also rising, although not as fast as the cost of going to university, with the two factors combining to make higher education less appealing to some prospective students.

It is in this context that apprenticeship programmes are being pushed as part of the solution by creating skilled young workers who can boost a company’s productivity cheaply.

Launching National Apprenticeship Week on Monday, Business Secretary Vince Cable urged employers to help create 100,000 more apprentices by 2014.

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is to put its 1,500 new recruits at Halewood through an intermediate apprenticeship scheme, which has been developed in collaboration with the National Apprenticeship Service and SEMTA, the Sector Skills Council for science, engineering and manufacturing technologies in the UK.

It starts with an intensive nine-day induction and training programme, followed by a nine-month training schedule that will enable its staff to have a greater understanding of lean manufacturing techniques, motivation, quality of work and innovation.

Richard Else, operations director at JLR, Halewood, said: “As our new vehicles become more sophisticated and more luxurious, and as the business strives to reach ever higher quality standards, we recognise that we need to continue to invest in a highly trained workforce.

“The support of the National Apprentice Service programme will not only help provide the best training but it will also give our new employees a nationally recognised qualification at the same time.”

Warrington-based United Utilities is also looking to use apprenticeships to develop new recruits.

It is looking to enrol up to 40 apprentices each year until 2015, with the roles including opportunities to work out in the field as engineers, in the laboratories as scientists and as process controllers at treatment works.

Steve Fraser, United Utilities’ operations director, said: "We are taking on a new crop of talented people to help us meet the challenges of the future. It's an exciting prospect for job seekers, and for our whole organisation.”

Apprenticeships are not just for large companies, with the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) saying that 69% of apprenticeships take place in businesses with fewer than 50 employees.

It is calling on the Government to help the very smallest firms to be able to take on an apprentice.

John Allan, FSB’s regional chairman for Merseyside, West Cheshire and Wigan, said: “Apprenticeships are valued very highly by small businesses, but Government must recognise that it is the burden of employment law combined with a lack of information and guidance that stops small firms from taking an apprentice on.

“We recognise that at a time of austerity not all businesses can receive financial incentives to take on an apprentice and that is why we are urging the Government to ensure that the smallest, micro-businesses still receive funding.”

“The big thing for employers is the apprenticeship wage,” said Helen Eaton, business development manager at hair and beauty training provider Michael John of Liverpool.

“There’s no subsidy – contrary to what people think – but there is an apprenticeship rate for the minimum wage, which is £2.50 an hour in their first year of the apprenticeship, no matter how old they are.

“Also, since last October, it is possible to have a part-time apprentice.”

She believes that, as employers look to grow in the future, apprentices offer good value for companies.

“Moving forward, if an employer has made redundancies or stopped recruiting, apprentices are the natural people to employ,” she said. “You can train them how you want, they are cheaper – it’s a cost-effective way of employing staff.”

Michael John of Liverpool has been involved in training for 30 years, after finding it needed a way of developing staff to work in its own business.

It now offers apprenticeships in hairdressing, barbering, beauty therapy and nail services. It will add spa therapy to that list in the summer, when it opens its new academy in the former Rapid building in Liverpool city centre.

It already has training centres in Duke Street, as well as Liscard and Old Swan, and was awarded the Training Quality Standard, with a specialism in hair and beauty – a kitemark industry standard.

Ms Eaton said: “It’s suitable for some young people but not for everyone. Some young people are ready for employment and being in an adult environment.

“There’s a perception that, if you are not good enough for college, you go on to an apprenticeship programme – that’s simply not true.

“An apprentice does a framework of qualifications. The sector skills council develop an NVQ around what an employer needs.

“For example, a hairdresser can be handling money, which demands numeracy but it is different to GCSE maths – your algebra doesn’t really kick in in a salon.”