Apprenticeships and Internships Gain Ground as Employers Prioritise Skills Over Degrees

New research reveals employers are increasingly valuing skills, internships and apprenticeships over degrees, with AI and in-person training reshaping early careers recruitment.

The latest research into early careers recruitment suggests that employers are placing less emphasis on academic qualifications alone and giving greater weight to practical skills, adaptability and real-world experience. 

For young people entering the jobs market, that could mean apprenticeships and internships are becoming more valuable than ever before.

According to the newly published 2026 Best Practice Early Careers Guide from TST, organisations are increasingly creating multiple routes into employment rather than relying solely on traditional graduate recruitment.

The report found that companies with well-developed internship-to-graduate programmes retain significantly more employees over the long term.

 After three years, 73% of graduates who came through strong internship pipelines were still with their employer, compared with 62% at organisations without similar programmes. 

Internships also attracted around 20% more applications than graduate schemes and an impressive 80% more than apprenticeship vacancies, highlighting the growing appeal of gaining workplace experience before committing to a permanent role.

The findings are based on recruitment and retention data from 30 global organisations employing more than 2.75 million people. They paint a picture of employers becoming increasingly interested in what candidates can demonstrate rather than simply what qualifications they hold.

Dr Khairunnisa Mohamedali, (PICTURED) Managing Director and Chief Innovation Officer at TST, believes businesses are looking for people who can adapt quickly to changing workplaces. She told That's Business that it is her argument that skills, attitude and potential are now sitting alongside formal qualifications when employers make recruitment decisions.

Supporting this trend, research from the National Association of Colleges and Employers suggests that 70% of employers now use skills-based hiring for entry-level positions, while nearly half of middle-skill jobs have removed formal degree requirements altogether.

The report also highlights another interesting development: the return of face-to-face learning. Organisations with the strongest long-term retention rates delivered almost two-thirds of their induction programmes in person, compared with just over a quarter among lower-performing employers. 

Building personal relationships, company culture and workplace confidence during those early weeks appears to have a lasting impact on employee loyalty.

Artificial intelligence is also reshaping graduate development. As AI increasingly takes over routine tasks that once helped new recruits gain confidence and experience, employers are placing even greater value on qualities such as curiosity, resilience, communication and a willingness to learn. Rather than replacing early careers programmes, AI is changing what successful development looks like.

For businesses competing for tomorrow's workforce, the message is clear. Investing in apprenticeships, internships, meaningful in-person training and skills-based recruitment could prove to be one of the smartest talent strategies of the decade.

https://www.wearetst.com/insight/insight-article.html?slug=best-practice-early-careers-guide-2026

DataToBiz Addresses Britain’s Skills Shortage, Expands Delivery Bench to Power BI

Execution remains the top push for every enterprise in the UK. Rigid delivery models and long hiring cycles are proving unsuited for modern data transformation initiatives. 

DataToBiz addresses Britain’s skills shortage by expanding its Power BI-focused delivery bench, deploying high-velocity teams to the company's technical backend.

The Staffing Deficit in the UK

Britain’s digital transformation ambitions are colliding with a widening analytics skills gap. According to the most recent Digital Leadership Report, more than half of UK tech leaders (52% to be accurate) now report a shortage in technology skills, the largest such tech shortfall in over 15 years, a shift that risks bottlenecking BI, analytics, and data programmes, industry-wide.

Ankush Sharma, Co-founder & CEO of DataToBiz, told That's Business: “UK enterprises are not short of ambition or strategy; they are short of execution bandwidth. That is precisely the reason behind extending the staffing bench to them, to deliver acceleration.”

A ‘Governed’ Bench for Modern BI

To reverse and aid the shortfall, DataToBiz has expanded its Power BI delivery bench with embedded specialists and made them available for short and long-term project timelines.

With the extended staffing bench at DataToBiz, they introduced AI co-pilot integration experts, dashboard automation specialists, and platform engineering expertise as well. Ready-to-implement solutions, such as the Fabric Spend Analyser fast-track deployment, are helping firms level up their analytics maturity at pace.

This extended bench functions as a governed, accountable extension of in-house teams rather than mere external contractors. With experience across 10+ Fortune 500 enterprises and partnerships spanning the UK and 20 other countries, supported by ISO and AICPA-aligned standards, DataToBiz positions its Power BI augmentation model as a trusted, scalable chance for UK organisations to correct the course.

Execution Is Where Shift Happens!

Enterprises rarely lack vision; they never do! But to align the strategies, or the out-of-the-box idea, with execution is what requires support. By extending its Power BI delivery bench, DataToBiz is hoping to work beyond intent but implementation for Britain’s data-first businesses.

https://www.datatobiz.com

Employees need new skills to make the energy transition a reality, say experts

Our working life is changing at a faster pace than ever before, and so too are the competencies employees need to develop, says Tom Lindholm, Managing Director of Aalto University Executive Education and Professional Development (Aalto EE).

This was a central focus of Aalto EE’s event “Making Energy Transition a Reality – Closing the Competence gap,” which Lindholm opened in December 2023.

Drawing on insights from the World Economic Forum and a report by the Technology Industries of Finland, Lindholm says workforces must gain broader competencies and learn new skills instead of simply updating existing ones.

Throughout the event, many speakers highlighted the importance of long-term and systemic thinking, the ability to see the big picture and build collaborations to solve complex problems.

Guest speaker Tuukka Hartikka, Head of BU (Hydrogen and Power to X) from Helen Ltd spoke about the energy transition from an energy company’s point of view.

He said the rapid development of AI and technologies are major factors driving the need to re- and upskill employees, in addition to the climate crisis.

During the panel discussion, Ulla Heinonen – Director, Green Growth at the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK – emphasised the importance of taking care of young people’s skills in basic education and having all children and adolescents on board.

Ismo Laukkanen, Head of Learning and Development at ABB, advocated thinking about what support and funding can be provided for re- and upskilling nationally.

Other panellists were Annareetta Lumme-Timonen, Investment Director at Solidium, and Johanna Fräki, Head of Open Innovation and Innovation Marketing at Neste. The panel was moderated by Ulla-Maija Uusitalo, Sales and Account Director at Aalto EE.