Young unemployed people in Oldham given jobs boost

Oldham Council has agreed to support a key national scheme that will aim to get more than 1,500 young people aged 16-24 into work in Oldham over the next 12 months. 

At a cabinet meeting on Monday night (25 January), the council agreed to both provide 50 new job placements within its own organisation and also to help other Oldham businesses provide hundreds of similar job placements as part of the government’s £2 billion Kickstart scheme.

Latest unemployment figures released on Tuesday (26 January) show the UK's unemployment rate rose to five per cent in the three months to November, up from 4.9 per cent, as coronavirus continued to hit the jobs market.

As of September 2020, there were 3,100 young people aged 18-24 in Oldham unemployed. This represents a youth unemployment rate of 15.6 per cent, the highest rate across Greater Manchester and more than six per cent higher than the national rate.

The Kickstart job creation scheme for young people opened to business last September and is in response to Covid-19 and the impact it is having on unemployment across England.

Oldham Council has pledged to find 50 six-month new job placements for young people in Oldham. They will also act as a ‘gateway provider’, or intermediary, between government who are providing the funding, and local small/medium businesses who don’t reach the government threshold of providing 30 jobs and who want to provide jobs for young people.

Young people aged 16-24 years on Universal Credit will be referred to the scheme by their Job Centre Plus work coach. The scheme will initially be open until December 2021.

Kickstart jobs must be new jobs offering a minimum of 25 hours per week for six months and should not require people to undertake extensive training before they begin the job placement.

Councillor Mohon Ali, who is leading the project for Oldham Council, said: “This is a great opportunity for Oldham Council and local businesses to give a helping hand to many young people currently out of work.

“As of September 2020, there were 3,100 young people aged 18-24 in Oldham unemployed. This represents a youth unemployment rate of 15.6%, the highest rate across Greater Manchester and more than 6% higher than the national rate.

“We must all work together in Oldham to tackle this problem. The Council is playing its part by providing 50 jobs but I am calling on all Oldham business, however large or small, to find out more about this scheme and to get involved.

“The Council and its partners have an ambition to create a workforce that is more representative of our population, improving our age profile and diversity and supporting career development.

“This is part of our plan to develop strategies to attract local, younger people and support people back into the workplace.

“We also believe it will attract and retain a new generation of staff through innovative recruitment strategies and, in turn, support local communities to get stronger economically.”

For more information on the scheme, people can email employability@oldham.gov.uk