Teenagers will do work placements at some of the UK’s highest-profile
employers in a drive to combat IT skills shortages.
Thirty lower sixth formers from schools in Tower Hamlets, London, will work
at HSBC, Morgan Stanley, News International, SHL and Vodafone, under a pilot
project led by Deloitte & Touche.
Called e-skills4industry, the 15-month programme was set up to attract
students into vacant entry-level IT positions and teach them about working in a
corporation.
The programme targets areas with high levels of adult unemployment and young
people with formal academic qualifications.
Richard Stone, director of community investment at Deloitte & Touche,
hopes the scheme will be rolled out regionally.
He said: "The IT skills shortage applies across business. If you are
trained in IT you can work in any sector."
The teenagers taking part in the scheme have each been given a laptop, and
will be paid £50 a week during a two-week work placement and £150 a week during
a later three-month job placement.
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The hope is that those who pass the City & Guilds qualifications in IT
and complete the work experience will be offered full-time jobs at the sponsor
firms.
