Apprenticeship scheme for Harland & Wolff

Harland & Wolff, the shipyard with 160 years of maritime and offshore engineering pedigree, has announced it will soon be launching a new apprenticeship scheme.

The scheme is set to officially launch later this year across both the flagship Belfast and the newly acquired Appledore sites.

Apprenticeships offered will be across three distinct functions. The trade cohort includes welders, pipefitters, electricians, riggers, fabricators, etc; the technical cohort includes engineers, naval architecture; and business support apprentices will be in sales and administration.

The training programme will include practical on-the-job training, one to one mentoring, and shipyard training facilities.

As part of the scheme, apprentices will have the chance to experience working across Harland & Wolff’s five key sectors; cruise & ferries, defence, oil & gas, commercial and renewables, as well as across the full lifecycle of services it offers; technical services, building and fabrication, repair and maintenance, in service support, conversion, and decommissioning.

Prospective apprentices will be able to register their interest on the Harland & Wolff website.

“Over a quarter of our current workforce here are ex Harland & Wolff apprentices, many of whom are now in management positions. We can’t just wait for opportunity; we need to create it,” says Kelly O’Rourke, group director of human resources.

“Today, we see great opportunity for Harland & Wolff. To create value, we need a steady stream of good local talent coming through the business and surely the best way to achieve this is through launching a new apprenticeship scheme. This important launch will be another meaningful step forward in Harland & Wolff’s journey and a further demonstration of our strong commitment to the future sustainability of the shipyard.”