30.09.19
£4m invested in higher worker earnings and youth employment
The government have announced two new programmes today to help young people into work and jobseekers into higher paid jobs.
Manchester and the West Midlands are set to receive up to £1.2m for extra time and resources to be spent on helping young people into employment. Particularly care-leavers and young offenders.
West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, ran a programme with youth employability coaches who have vowed to continue to support young people into work and six weeks following the start in their new position.
The aim of this is to help them continue building on their skills and maintain their jobs long into the future.
A further £2.8m will be provided to develop cutting-edge technology. This includes providing job ‘apps’ to aid people looking for work and specifically to find better, higher paid jobs.
It will collect data on supply and demand of skills in local areas helping jobseekers to narrow down their searches based on skills and experience. It will also outline the skills needed if they wanted to progress to higher-paid roles on offer in their location.
Work and Pensions Secretary Dr Thérèse Coffey said:
“I want to give everyone the best start in life, and every chance to get not just a job, but find that dream job.
“That is why we will provide extra help for disadvantaged young people and use the latest technology to help people climb the career ladder.
“We’ve seen 3.7 million more people in work since 2010 and wages outpacing inflation for a year and a half now, but I want to ensure we’re always looking at new ways to help anyone no matter the barriers they face into a good job.”
Youth unemployment has also halved since 2010, with 451,000 more young people in work. The number of children growing up in workless households is also at an all-time low.