WIREDGOV

According to monthly performance data, Jobs Growth Wales has now created 11,059 job opportunities with 8,693 young people filling these jobs.

In the programme’s largest strand, the private sector strand, 80% of young people progressed into sustained employment, an apprenticeship or further learning upon completing a six month opportunity. Twenty seven percent of these young people progressed onto an apprenticeship.

Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology, Ken Skates, welcomed the latest figures as further evidence of the role that the Jobs Growth Wales and Apprenticeship pathway is playing in driving down youth unemployment in Wales.

When combined, support provided by the Welsh Government through Jobs Growth Wales, the Apprenticeship programme and the Young Recruits Programme is helping employers to retain their Jobs Growth Wales recruits.

This means that businesses have been able to bring forward their plans for recruitment and expansion which, in turn, helps to boost profits and accelerate growth.

For job-ready young people, the combination of a Jobs Growth Wales and apprenticeship opportunity also means avoiding a potentially damaging spell of long-term unemployment.

Welcoming the latest performance data, the Deputy Minister said:

"Latest figures show that youth unemployment is falling faster in Wales than it is in the UK as a whole. Make no mistake - Jobs Growth Wales has played its part in this.

"The unique package of support, training and development offered by a Jobs Growth Wales opportunity provides the perfect route into an Apprenticeship, and as these latest figures demonstrate, it’s a route that more and more of our young people and employers want to pursue.

"Together, Jobs Growth Wales and Apprenticeships are making a real difference in helping our young people into long-term employment and allowing our businesses to grow“

"As we begin Apprenticeship Week, I’d like to call on all employers to take advantage of the support we provide through Jobs Growth Wales and our Apprenticeship programme and make that all-important investment in the future of their workforce."

Related Links

Apprenticeship Week 2014