Grayling: thousands of new opportunities for jobseekers through sector-based work academies
According to this article:
“The Government is to launch the next part of its strategy to combat youth unemployment, with the formal launch of sector-based work academies acrossEngland. The new academies will offer a combination of training, work experience and a guaranteed job interview to up to 50,000 people over the next two years, with many going to young people. Together with the Work Programme and the Government’s Work Experience scheme it will mean support for up to 150,000 young people over the next few months and 250,000 people over the next two years. Sector-based work academies will operate in industries based on local labour market demand, including construction, contact centres, hospitality, logistics, and retail. In the wider economy there are currently over 90,000 vacancies in retail, over 44,000 in hospitality and 11,000 vacancies in construction.”
I would like to understand what “Local labour market demand” means in terms of small rural communities and how the almost inevitable concentration of these vacancies in larger urban settlements will be considered to ensure the programme supports the economic development of all parts of England as equally and effectively as possible. The scale of the challenge is further reinforced by this article in the telegraph which reveals:
“Unemployment has soared more than expected to 2.57m – the biggest total in 17 years – while the number of young people without jobs reached a record high, official figures showed today.
I personally feel the challenges facing the young rural unemployed are really concerning and would welcome Government action to address this theme specifically.