Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Economics, government & businessLatest NewsGraduatesSkills shortagesOnline recruitment

Microsoft to help create 3,000 IT jobs and train low-skilled workers

by Louisa Peacock 9 Sep 2009
by Louisa Peacock 9 Sep 2009

Microsoft will help create 3,000 jobs across the IT industry, as part of a campaign launched today to counter rising unemployment.

The IT giant has told Personnel Today it aims to act as a bridge between the government’s skills system and the 32,000 smaller IT businesses that it works with, to enable them to offer 3,000 apprenticeship places over the next three years.

The firm has signed a Local Employment Partnership contract with Jobcentre Plus, to take people undergoing government-funded training in technical support roles and place them in jobs at one of its IT partners.

Stephen Uden, head of skills and economic affairs at Microsoft, told the magazine: “We will enable our partners to access talent through rolling out a national apprenticeship scheme. We are interfacing between the small businesses that we work with and the government’s skills system. Our partners may read about government spending on apprentices but feel they dont know how to access that, so this allows them to tap into the support available.”

The campaign, called Britain Works, comes just days after the government launched Backing Young Britain, urging employers to invest in 16- to 24-year-olds despite the tough economic climate.

Uden said he hoped other employers would follow suit and do what they could to help speed up economic recovery.

“It’s in the interest of all big companies to do what they can to help the UK move forward into recovery, and to help more people into jobs which will mean there’s more consumers for all our products. We’re helping IT skills and hopefully other firms will do things in other areas.”

The campaign, which has already been trialled in the West Midlands, will also target the 10 million people in the UK that have little or no computer skills. Microsoft will provide about 450,000 training vouchers to low-skilled people giving them access to courses offering ‘digital literacy’, for example how to use Windows or a keyboard.

The firm is working with charities and non-governmental organisations such as disability group Leonard Cheshire to reach out to the unemployed and those classified as ‘Neets’ – not in employment, education or training.

Uden said, however, that Microsoft will not be looking to employ apprenticeships as part of this campaign as most of the opportunities available at the firm generally begin at graduate level.

He added that this year a record 5,000 people applied for Microsoft’s graduate jobs and internships, for up to 25 and 100 positions respectively.

“We’ve noticed since the credit crunch there’s been far more people coming to us and also very good quality people. There’s been a good mix of diverse backgrounds applying. That may be because traditional avenues [employers] some people might have considered aren’t taking people on so readily, and people are looking at wider options – that has benefited us.”

Avatar
Louisa Peacock

previous post
Cyber-bullying: Legal Q&A
next post
Poor foreign language skills will hamper UK economic growth

You may also like

Employment law changes for 2022 and beyond: update...

1 Jul 2022

BT workers vote for strike action over pay

1 Jul 2022

Chief financial officers now more involved in HR

1 Jul 2022

Top 10 HR questions June 2022: Former employees

1 Jul 2022

Pay all care workers a £10.50 hourly minimum...

30 Jun 2022

Royal Mail managers vote to strike over restructure

30 Jun 2022

Give wellbeing a board seat: Prof Sir Cary...

30 Jun 2022

One in five workplaces lack LGBT support policies

30 Jun 2022

Christian doctor loses transgender pronoun case, but beliefs...

29 Jun 2022

New chief workforce officer at NHS England

29 Jun 2022
  • NSPCC revamps its learning strategy with child wellbeing at its heart PROMOTED | The NSPCC’s mission is to prevent abuse and neglect...Read more
  • Diversity versus inclusion: Why the difference matters PROMOTED | It’s possible for an environment to be diverse, but not inclusive...Read more
  • Five steps for organisations across the globe to become more skills-driven PROMOTED | The shift in the world of work has been felt across the globe...Read more
  • The future of workforce development PROMOTED | Northumbria University and partners share insight...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
    • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+