DWP youth employment programme with hospitality employers, Digi Mart USA News (United Kingdom): The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed a new programme aimed at moving as many as 100,000 benefits claimants off the welfare system. The initiative targets jobless young people aged 18 to 24 and is intended to help address worsening youth unemployment figures.
The DWP will work with several major high street companies to offer workplace opportunities. Companies named in the programme include Whitbread, which owns Costa Coffee, as well as McDonald’s, Marriott, Burger King, Mitchell and Butler, and Wagamama.
Stonegate Group, Nando’s and Fuller’s have also signed up.
Labour Party minister Andrew Western said that with around one million young people not in education, employment or training, the government will not leave an entire generation behind. He said the government is investing an additional £2.5 billion by 2029 into the Youth Guarantee and the Growth and Skills Levy, supporting almost one million young people and creating up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.
A central part of the Youth Guarantee is working with employers to create more opportunities for young people. The DWP is working with UKHospitality and leading hospitality employers to help young people enter employment and develop the skills and experience they need to progress in work.
According to Western, hospitality businesses including Whitbread, McDonald’s, Nando’s, Marriott, Compass, Burger King and Wagamama have committed to providing over 100,000 jobs for 18 to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training by the end of Parliament.
He said these opportunities will be delivered through direct recruitment and a hospitality training programme. The programme will provide disadvantaged young people with sector-specific experience, a guaranteed interview and a Hospitality Skills Passport, which certifies that participants have the skills needed to succeed in the sector.
Hospitality businesses will also offer learning opportunities through the DWP’s work experience programme, providing two to four weeks of hands-on experience with hospitality employers, along with workplace support and interview experience.
The DWP also supports routes into the sector through hospitality Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs). These provide pre-employment training designed to equip jobseekers with the skills needed for hospitality roles, alongside work experience and a guaranteed job interview.
In collaboration with UKHospitality, the Destination Hospitality SWAP pilot has been extended to 22 SWAPs in 16 areas across England and Scotland.
