High-profile employers such as Google and Facebook have unveiled a Tech City-based apprenticeship scheme for 500 unemployed young Londoners.
An additional apprenticeship training centre in the Olympic Park broadcasting centre will also provide up to 350 young people each week with suitable skills training to work in Europe’s fastest growing technology cluster.
The Tech City Apprenticeship programme, which is targeted at 16-to-24 year-olds, will officially open its doors in January next year. It will enable participants to undertake a full-time 15-month placement that is intended to combine a job with specialised skills training.
The scheme will be managed by Hackney Community College, which will offer training in basic skills such as English and maths and also tuition to gain a Technical Certificate. It will be funded by the government and Hackney Council and see digital firms such as TechHub, Moo.com, Poke London, The Trampery and Passion Capital take part.
Ian Ashman, the principal of the College, said: “The two biggest challenges faced by Tech City today are recruiting the skilled people the businesses need, and getting local people into the fantastic jobs that this sector has to offer. Tech City Apprenticeships will address both of these challenges.”
The first cohort of apprenticeships will focus on IT, online marketing and ‘front of house’ skills in shared office spaces, but Advanced Tech City Apprenticeships in programming and digital design will also start in autumn 2013.
The initiative was launched by Rohan Silva, senior policy adviser to the prime minister, at a keynote speech at the Future London conference at Canary Wharf yesterday. Silva created the Tech City concept in 2010 and chairs the Tech City Advisory Board.
On welcoming the initiative at the event, Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “As we gear up to host the capital’s largest careers event at Skills London, the news that 500 young people are getting the opportunity to boost their prospects and contribute to the growth of Tech City is just fantastic. London’s digital sector has huge job-generating potential and it is initiatives like this which will be key to helping us to create 100,000 apprenticeships by the end of the year.”
