Microsoft launches national jobs scheme

Campaign aims to get 500,000 people into work by 2012

Microsoft is looking to help plug the skills gap

Microsoft has launched a campaign to help 500,000 people in the UK into work by 2012.

The firm will work with non-government organisations (NGOs) and local authorities to set up a new national apprenticeship scheme, targeted skills and employability training and a job matching service.

Microsoft UK managing director Gordon Frazer said the firm has taken a realistic approach to the plan.

"Of course we can’t wave a magic wand and create jobs for all, and that is why ‘Britain Works’ is specifically designed to give people the opportunity to get the skills and support they need to change their lives themselves," he said.

The national apprenticeship scheme will see Microsoft partner with seven organisations to offer 3,000 paid apprenticeships over three years that will lead applicants to professional qualifications.

Mel Groves, chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, said the apprenticeship scheme had worked well in trials so far.

"Jobcentre Plus has worked with Microsoft on the pilot of its IT apprenticeship scheme for smaller businesses in the West Midlands, and we're delighted to see it being rolled out nationally," he said.

The “Skills for Business” training will be primarily delivered through Microsoft partners and NGOs, including UK Online Centres, The Wise Group and Leonard Cheshire Disability.

And the job matching service – known as MS Employ – will match vacancies among Microsoft’s supplier network of 32,000 companies with people seeking employment. If applicants are not skilled enough, the system will link them through to where they can access courses.

The commitment comes as government figures released in August show that unemployment has risen to 2.4 million in the UK. The CBI recently forecasted this figure to reach three million.

The Microsoft scheme is spearheaded by Lord Digby Jones, former head of the CBI and former minister of state for trade and investment. Speaking at the launch today Jones said the unemployment figures were a frightening prospect.

"But I also know that there are thousands of people who do not have the appropriate skills that businesses need in today’s IT-led economy," he said.

"Businesses still need these people, and so a significant part of the this campaign will focus on making Skills for Business training vouchers available to people who want to give themselves an extra chance when going for interviews."

Lord Mandelson and shadow chancellors George Osborne and Vince Cable all welcomed the scheme.