Employment and Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry has praised employers for rising to the challenge to provide work placements and opportunities to support unemployed young people.
Speaking at a recent seminar on the theme of youth employment the Minister welcomed the response by employers who have answered his call to get involved in the Youth Employment Scheme by providing sector relevant work experience opportunities which are supported by employer subsidies.
Addressing the Northern Ireland Assembly and Business Trust the Minister said:
“Since I launched the Scheme our primary focus has been on encouraging employers to agree to offer opportunities to young people. We have had significant success in this regard. As at 1 February, 775 employers had signed agreements to participate in the scheme. To date, there have been 880 opportunities secured. I am confident that the Youth Employment Scheme will generate over 1,000 opportunities by the end of March.â€
The programme also offers enhanced support through additional Adviser time from both the Employment and Careers Services. Participants will be paid a training allowance of £100 a week whilst on the skills development programme and employers will also receive help with training costs up to a maximum of £750.
The Minister continued: “We have also demonstrated that employers are willing to offer opportunities to help facilitate and enable the skills development of our next generation. Indeed I have been greatly encouraged by the support of employers and their representative bodies. This is much more than employers meeting their corporate social responsibility commitments – this is about investing in the development of their workforce, with government support, to improve their business performance and grow our local economy.â€
Open to businesses of all sizes and from all sectors, the Northern Ireland Assembly and Business Trust (NIABT) works to forge links with, and promote the exchange of knowledge and information between, local businesses and parliamentarians in Northern Ireland and in Europe.
Employment and Learning Minister Dr Stephen Farry has praised employers for rising to the challenge to provide work placements and opportunities to support unemployed young people.
Speaking at a recent seminar on the theme of youth employment the Minister welcomed the response by employers who have answered his call to get involved in the Youth Employment Scheme by providing sector relevant work experience opportunities which are supported by employer subsidies.
Addressing the Northern Ireland Assembly and Business Trust the Minister said:
“Since I launched the Scheme our primary focus has been on encouraging employers to agree to offer opportunities to young people. We have had significant success in this regard. As at 1 February, 775 employers had signed agreements to participate in the scheme. To date, there have been 880 opportunities secured. I am confident that the Youth Employment Scheme will generate over 1,000 opportunities by the end of March.”
The programme also offers enhanced support through additional Adviser time from both the Employment and Careers Services. Participants will be paid a training allowance of £100 a week whilst on the skills development programme and employers will also receive help with training costs up to a maximum of £750.
The Minister continued: “We have also demonstrated that employers are willing to offer opportunities to help facilitate and enable the skills development of our next generation. Indeed I have been greatly encouraged by the support of employers and their representative bodies. This is much more than employers meeting their corporate social responsibility commitments – this is about investing in the development of their workforce, with government support, to improve their business performance and grow our local economy.”
Open to businesses of all sizes and from all sectors, the Northern Ireland Assembly and Business Trust (NIABT) works to forge links with, and promote the exchange of knowledge and information between, local businesses and parliamentarians in Northern Ireland and in Europe.
