How Charlotte Built a Citywide Apprenticeship System that Actually Works

In 2014, Charlotte faced a critical workforce challenge: a looming retirement cliff and persistent difficulty filling critical operational roles across city departments.

Rather than accept that gap, Charlotte changed the question from "who can already do this job?" to "who can we develop to do it?" The result: a citywide apprenticeship system across seven departments, 120 active apprentices, and a 79% retention rate—roughly double what the city sees from traditional hiring.

Join Opportunity@Work and Sherri Jones, Workforce Development and Program Manager at the City of Charlotte, as she walks through the real tactics that doubled retention rates and transformed how the city fills its hardest-to-fill roles.

What you'll learn

• How to map workforce gaps and identify which roles are right for apprenticeship
• The skills matrix that defines learning and proves competency (not just test scores)
• How to remove barriers that usually stop people: tuition prepayment, wraparound support, wage progression
• Why apprenticeship became the only entry point for some roles (and how to get there)
• The data that moves policymakers and funders: economic mobility shifts, retention benchmarks, cost of filling vacancies differently

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