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£20 million added to Government's Traineeships scheme

A further £20m has been pledged to the Government’s Traineeships programme, a scheme designed to equip 16-23 year-olds with necessary skills to navigate the jobs market.

Skills Minister Matthew Hancock made the announcement which will boost the scheme that has so far attracted the support of 500 companies willing to take on ‘trainees’.

Household names such as BAE Systems, Siemens and Virgin Media are among the first tranche of firms to embark on the programme.

Traineeships last at least six months, and incorporate unpaid work experience of between six weeks and five months; training in interview preparation and CV writing; and support to improve maths and English skills.

Mr Hancock said: “The programme is off to an excellent start with strong backing from employers and training providers.

“We have responded to this demand by providing additional investment and in time traineeships will become the clear route for young people looking to get the crucial grounding they need in the world of work.”

Maurice Daw, chief people officer, Virgin Media said: “Our very first trainees are now being taken on as full time field technicians, so we’re delighted with the traineeship scheme. The experience and skills boost that the traineeship offers is already creating more opportunities for people to find a route into work.

“We are really pleased that there is more investment in the scheme. It will help employers like us by creating a bigger and better pool of candidates and it will help individuals looking for career opportunities.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .