CIPD annual conference hears how bank recruited 1,000 young apprentices Introducing an ambitious apprenticeship programme is the “single best thing that Barclays has done in the HR space for many years”, delegates at the CIPD’s annual conference were told. Eighteen months ago, the banking giant decided to focus its youth recruitment efforts on a scheme offering 1,000 apprentice places, explained Mike Thompson, head of the Early Careers initiative at Barclays. A change in chief executive at the bank, coupled with a “wake up call” letter from London mayor Boris Johnson asking corporates to do more to tackle youth unemployment, inspired the company to review its youth recruitment practices and the age profile of its workforce. It discovered that out of 60,000 employees in the UK, less than 200 were aged below 21 and none were under 18 years of age. This resulted in a “seismic shift” in the recruitment strategy and a decision to introduce apprenticeships alongside the traditional graduate places, Thompson told the Manchester delegates. The 1,000 16-to 24-year-olds recruited onto the apprenticeship programme were long-term unemployed and often had few academic qualifications, but were “loyal, hungry and ambitious”, he said. Many apprentices had also taken the opportunity to embark on an academic pathway that they might have missed out on in their younger years – potentially culminating in a business management degree. The audience heard that the next step in Barclays’ youth employment strategy had been the launch of the nationwide Let’s Get to Work initiative. Run in collaboration with other businesses, the initiative aims to give one million young people access to the skills they need to transition successfully from education into work by 2015. Initial training modules include the development of soft skills, money management techniques and basic work skills – such as the importance of time keeping and personal presentation, explained Thompson. So far, half of the schools in the UK have signed up. “It helps people get [employability] skills before they leave school, preventing them from becoming NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) or falling into the gap between work and the school system,” he said. CIPD
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 15:54:18 +0000
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