Minister calls on construction firms to back jobcentre hiring push

A government minister has urged construction firms to get involved with an expanded initiative aimed at tackling youth unemployment via funded training.

Employment minister Alison McGovern said a revamped recruitment programme – the Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP) – is being scaled up to help address a labour shortfall that she called “as big a problem” as unemployment in the 1980s and 1990s.

Speaking to CN at the Construction Week exhibition in London, McGovern said the sector had a “central” role to play in delivering employment outcomes and the government’s housing, school and hospital building targets.

SWAP offers four to six-week training placements for benefit claimants, tailored to employers’ needs, with guaranteed job interviews at the end.

While not limited to construction, McGovern said ministers “especially want construction firms to work with us” due to the dual benefits of addressing labour shortages and improving life chances for unemployed people.

“We want roofs over people’s heads and we want them in good jobs that will give them pride and dignity,” she said.

McGovern added that the number of people supported through SWAP would increase from 80,000 last year to 100,000 this year.

She said Jobcentres would offer a single point of contact for employers interested in the scheme. Larger contractors would be supported nationally, while SMEs would receive local support.

The minister explained that training would be funded by the Department for Education and tailored to meet employers’ needs.

Businesses would not be required to pay for training, she said.

McGovern confirmed that the initiative was not restricted to young people, but added: “We’ve got nearly a million young people who are not in a job, training or education of any kind. That is not acceptable.”

McGovern said Jobcentre partnerships were designed to give employers access to “loyal, talented staff”, while helping people “turn their lives around and get a skill that will last a few years”.

Employers interested in working with the programme can contact the Department for Work and Pensions for further information.

A separate £600m skills package announced in the chancellor’s spring statement is aimed at supporting an additional 60,000 places across a range of technical roles including bricklaying, joinery and engineering.