Young people looking for their first job: Mark Lazarowicz MP calls on Government to offer support not stereotypes
Mark Lazarowicz MP is highlighting a new scheme run by the voluntary sector EY Foundation that will offer paid work experience, advice and support to young people in Edinburgh looking for their first job.
Youth unemployment (amongst 16-24 year-olds) is still running at 18.1% in Scotland and 16.9% in the UK as a whole. In Scotland it has increased by 4.5% since 2008.
The North and Leith MP is urging young people in Edinburgh to apply for the Foundation’s Smart Futures scheme, a ten-month paid work experience programme.
He said: “Schemes like Smart Futures and the City Council’s Edinburgh Guarantee are priceless opportunities for young people to get experience and the skills to succeed in finding their first job.
“Labour is committed to introducing a compulsory Jobs Guarantee that would ensure young people who are unemployed start gaining vital work experience and skills.
“Too often the Government resorts to negative stereotypes, talking of the well-worn path from school gate to Jobcentre and on to a life on benefits.
“The reality is that the vast majority of young people desperately want to work and are eager to apply for schemes like Smart Futures – the Government should learn from it and the Edinburgh Guarantee because too often it’s the Government that’s failing not young people.”
The scheme gives young people work experience and the chance to meet with people in business and get valuable tips on writing CVs, application and interview advice, as well as an EY Foundation mentor throughout Sixth Year.
The City Council’s Edinburgh Guarantee aims to ensure that every school leaver goes into employment, further education, or training by bringing them together with employers. There is more information on how it works at
https://www.edinburghguarantee.org/about-us/
Applications for the EY Foundation’s summer 2015 Smart Futures scheme are now open until 1 March 2015 and anyone keen to apply can find more information on it at http://ukcareerguide.ey.com/schools/ey-smart-futures
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