In the UK, yes there are apprenticeships available (generally at the bigger companies like Arm) but not a huge number of them.
The new UK Semiconductor Centre has recently been asking (among many other questions) why the industry hasn't taken up the govt apprenticeship schemes more given the lack of engineers. The answers as to why are ultimately "it's complicated".
Your view on the salary during an apprenticeship will depend a lot on where you're coming from and expectations. They're generally lower than UK Median Salary (for any type of job; April 2025 it was £39k) at around £30kpa, but you're being paid to learn (rather than university studies, where you spend to money to learn). Also, god knows why, but the apprenticeships aren't always in the most in-demand areas (though if I had to guess, it would be because there already aren't enough employees to do the in-demand work, let alone spend some of that time training new people... which in the long-term is a disaster but we're in a short-term-thinking kind of world).
Im coming from an ok paid job in the us, but like you said, any pay is better than paying a school, and you get real on the job experience, not some textbook version of reality.
Asinine? What I don't want is for potential undergrads to waste their time and money futilely chasing a mirage formed by propaganda.
You can sue me for this, but I don't think lying to starry-eyed teenagers to compete like starved beasts for an ultra long shot at some semblance of a career is a good thing.
When the dust settles, all that they will have learned will be completely and utterly useless and they will have to reskill immediately. How about doing the right thing from the start?
The new UK Semiconductor Centre has recently been asking (among many other questions) why the industry hasn't taken up the govt apprenticeship schemes more given the lack of engineers. The answers as to why are ultimately "it's complicated".
Your view on the salary during an apprenticeship will depend a lot on where you're coming from and expectations. They're generally lower than UK Median Salary (for any type of job; April 2025 it was £39k) at around £30kpa, but you're being paid to learn (rather than university studies, where you spend to money to learn). Also, god knows why, but the apprenticeships aren't always in the most in-demand areas (though if I had to guess, it would be because there already aren't enough employees to do the in-demand work, let alone spend some of that time training new people... which in the long-term is a disaster but we're in a short-term-thinking kind of world).