Microsoft encourages IT departments to offer work placements

Software giant launches IT apprenticeship and work experience scheme across the UK

Unemployment among 18-to-24-year olds has risen to 728,000

Microsoft has today launched its Britain Works campaign, aimed at giving young people in the UK the IT skills they need to secure full-time employment.

The company is also encouraging senior IT leaders to offer work placements.

The scheme will see Microsoft extend its scheme to provide 3,000 apprenticeships within the company and partner organisations. This is an increase to the 300 apprenticeship placements that the company previously offered.

Microsoft is also partnering with small businesses such as Novatronics and large enterprises such as Sky to provide 100,000 work experience opportunities to 16-to-25-year olds.

The company has also partnered with employment services provider Remploy and social networking site LinkedIn to provide young people with advice, skills and training.

“The apprenticeship scheme is a seven-month programme that takes people with a very low level of IT expertise, but who are keen as mustard,” explained Stephen Uden, Microsoft’s head of skills and economic affairs, who is running the Britain Works programme.

Uden is inviting other businesses to take part in the campaign and said that there is a variety of ways that they can contribute. He has put together a work experience guide which is available to any business interested in taking part in the scheme but has not offered work experience roles in the past.

“The guide shares our expertise on how to run a work experience programme,” said Uden.

“Those people who can’t provide a whole work experience placement can come on the Facebook or LinkedIn groups to spend 20 minutes giving advice to people on there and give them some useful help to make them more attractive to employers.”

“At the end of the programme, they will receive the apprenticeship qualification and the Microsoft certified qualification, which will give them a great leg up in the job market,” Uden added.

The latest unemployment figures released last week show that unemployment among 18-to-24-year olds has risen to 728,000, despite the drop in overall unemployment, and the Prince's Trust Cost of Exclusion report also warned that youth unemployment is costing the UK economy a staggering £10m each day in lost productivity.

YouGov research commissioned by Microsoft found that 89 per cent of business owners do not run a formal work experience programme open to people who do not have contacts within their company. Despite that, 77 per cent of businesses said that prior work experience has an impact on employability.