CareerWise Apprenticeship Cost-Benefit Analysis

Step 1 of 3

CAMA and CareerWise Colorado developed this return on investment calculator to help companies make informed decisions regarding their participation in our youth apprenticeship initiative. The calculator predicts the net financial impact a given apprenticeship program will have on your business. Here is how to use it:
1. Answer the following questions with information that is specific to your company and the apprenticeship program you envision.
2. We’ve provided estimate values for each question. If you are unsure how to respond to a particular question or don’t have program or company-specific information, feel free to input our estimate value.
3. The tool will automatically calculate your expected gross costs, gross benefits, net benefit (or net cost), and return on investment.
4. If your results show a net cost, experiment with the inputs to see how changes to program structure can lead to a profitable apprenticeship program.
5. You can email the results to yourself and colleagues.
Please contact Andrew Palmer (AndrewPalmer@co-cama.org) with questions or comments.
Program Overview
For what occupation(s) do you plan to offer youth apprenticeships?
What is the hourly wage for a fully trained worker (i.e.. journeyman) in the given occupation(s)?
Our estimate: $25 per hour
How many apprentices do you expect to hire?
Hiring multiple apprentices spreads out your planning costs and makes it more likely that your program as a whole will be ROI positive.
Your Business
What is your rate for payroll taxes?
Includes Social Security taxes, unemployment insurance taxes, and Medicare taxes. Our estimate: 15% of total wages
What is your rate for employee benefits?
Includes health care insurance, life insurance, retirement savings plans, etc. Apprentices will not be eligible for these benefits. This information is required because we are comparing the costs and benefits of apprentices to employees who will have benefits. Our estimate: 15% of total wages
What is your rate for workers compensation insurance?
Our estimate: 5% of total wages
Compensation Costs
What wage will you offer youth apprentices during year 1 of the program?
Our estimate: $8.31 per hour (Colorado minimum wage)
What wage will you offer youth apprentices during year 2 of the program?
Our estimate: $10 per hour
What wage will you offer youth apprentices during year 3 of the program?
Our estimate: $14 per hour
Training Costs
Two training costs are involved with CareerWise youth apprenticeships. First, employers make an annual training center contribution of approximately $5,000. This training center contribution covers the cost of community college tuition, industry credentials, etc. Second, there is the opportunity cost of training. Apprenticeship programs require company staff to spend time training the apprentice. This is time company staff are not engaged in productive work. This section quantifies both of these training costs.
What is the average hourly wage of company staff who will be training the apprentice?
Our estimate: $25 per hour
Planning Costs
Apprenticeship programs require company staff to spend time putting together job descriptions and organizing meetings. This is time company staff otherwise would have used to accomplish day-to-day business tasks. These questions quantify that cost.
How many total hours do you expect company staff to devote to planning your apprenticeship?
Our estimate: 100 hours
What is the average hourly wage of company staff who are involved in planning your apprenticeship?
Our estimate: $30 per hour
Productivity
Apprentices will complete work that is productive for your business. These questions quantify that benefit.
When engaged in productive tasks during year 1, how efficient do you expect your apprentice to be compared with a fully trained worker?
Our estimate: 30%
When engaged in productive tasks during year 2, how efficient do you expect your apprentice to be compared with a fully trained worker?
Our estimate: 50%
When engaged in productive tasks during year 3, how efficient do you expect your apprentice to be compared with a fully trained worker?
Our estimate: 80%
Recruiting Savings
If you end up hiring your apprentice at the end of the program, it can reduce your overall recruiting costs. Your HR team will not have to post the opening to a jobs board, hire a recruiting firm, or conduct interviews. These questions quantify those recruiting savings.
What do you estimate your apprentice to long-term employee conversion percentage will be?
Our Estimate: 40%
What are your average recruiting costs for the occupation(s) in question?
This includes fees to recruiting firms, wages paid to company HR staff to review resumes and interview candidates, etc. Our Estimate: $4000

Compensation Costs Calculations
Year 1 Workplace hours
Year 2 Workplace hours
Year 3 Workplace hours
Year 1 Training Center hours
Year 2 Training Center hours
Year 3 Training Center hours
Year 1 Paid hours
Year 2 Paid hours
Year 3 Paid hours
Year 1 Wages
Year 2 Wages
Year 3 Wages
Year 1 Payroll Taxes
Year 2 Payroll Taxes
Year 3 Payroll Taxes
Year 1 Workers Compensation Insurance
Year 2 Workers Compensation Insurance
Year 3 Workers Compensation Insurance
Year 1 Compensation Costs
Year 2 Compensation Costs
Year 3 Compensation Costs
Training Costs Calculations
Year 1 Workplace hours
Year 2 Workplace hours
Year 3 Workplace hours
Year 1 percentage of workplace hours devoted to training
Year 2 percentage of workplace hours devoted to training
Year 3 percentage of workplace hours devoted to training
Year 1 Training hours in the workplace
Year 2 Training hours in the workplace
Year 3 Training hours in the workplace
Year 1 percentage of training hours that are supervised
Year 2 percentage of training hours that are supervised
Year 3 percentage of training hours that are supervised
Year 1 Supervised training hours
Year 2 Supervised training hours
Year 3 Supervised training hours
Year 1 Training Opportunity Cost
Year 2 Training Opportunity Cost
Year 3 Training Opportunity Cost
Year 1 Training Center Contribution
Year 2 Training Center Contribution
Year 3 Training Center Contribution
Year 1 Total Training Costs
Year 2 Total Training Costs
Year 3 Total Training Costs
Productivity Calculations
Year 1: Apprentice workplace hours vs. fully trained workers workplace hours
Year 2: Apprentice workplace hours vs. fully trained workers workplace hours
Year 3: Apprentice workplace hours vs. fully trained workers workplace hours
Year 1: Percentage of apprentice workplace hours devoted to productive taks vs. fully trained worker
Year 2: Percentage of apprentice workplace hours devoted to productive taks vs. fully trained worker
Year 3: Percentage of apprentice workplace hours devoted to productive taks vs. fully trained worker
Year 1: Apprentice relative productive contribution (percentage)
Year 2: Apprentice relative productive contribution (percentage)
Year 3: Apprentice relative productive contribution (percentage)
What is the average hourly wage of a fully trained workers in the given occupation?
Fully trained worker hours in a year
Fully trained worker annual salary
Payroll taxes for fully trained worker
Workers compensation insurance for fully trained worker
Benefits for fully trained worker
Cost of Employement for fully trained worker
Productivity multiplier (by how much value of an employee's contributions > cost of employment)
Annual Productive Contribution of a fully trained worker
Year 1: Apprentice Productive Contribution
Year 2: Apprentice Productive Contribution
Year 3: Apprentice Productive Contribution
Summary
Total Planning Costs (per apprentice)
Total Compensation Costs
Total Training Costs
Total Program Costs
Total Program Apprentice Productive Contribution
Total Recruiting Savings
Year 1 Productive Work
Year 1 Compensation Costs
Year 1 Training Costs
Year 1 Net Financial Impact
Year 2 Productive Work
Year 2 Compensation Costs
Year 2 Training Costs
Year 2 Net Financial Impact
Year 3 Productive Work
Year 3 Compensation Costs
Year 3 Training Costs
Year 3 Net Financial Impact
Planning Costs
Recruiting Savings
Total Program Benefits
Program Net Financial Impact
Program ROI (percentage)
Number
Number
Number

CareerWise Apprenticeship Cost-Benefit Analysis

Step 1 of 3

Program Overview

Your Business

Compensation Costs

Training Costs

Planning Costs

Productivity

Recruiting Savings

Compensation Costs Calculations

Training Costs Calculations

Productivity Calculations

Summary

Email Results