Hundreds of young Londoners find work through the Kickstart Scheme

Over 220 young people from across London have taken the chance to pursue their career goals at a jobs fair at the Emirates Stadium yesterday (8 September 2021).

At a special event in north London, over 1,000 jobseekers aged between 16 and 24 years old were given the opportunity to interview for roles at Arsenal FC, restaurant chain Cote and Tesco among others.

The event was opened by the Minister for Employment Mims Davies.

Minister for Employment Mims Davies MP said:

“It was great seeing so many young Londoners get involved and I was very impressed with their real determination to use our Kickstart Scheme to help them get their foot on the ladder.

“As we build back better, our Plan for Jobs is helping jobseekers of all ages build the confidence and skills they need to take up new opportunities.”

One young person who was successful in securing a new role was Nikolay who was hired by Arjun Global, to work with their IT team.

He said:

“It feels very weird as it all happened so quick. I have just come from university and it’s really exciting to be able to help my new company.”

The Kickstart Scheme offers under 25s, who are on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment, a six-month job in growing industries – ranging from sport to media to retail; giving them valuable experience and skills to set them on the journey to a new career.

New figures show that nearly 14,000 young jobseekers have started their Kickstart career in London with over 36,000 spots still available. Nationally more than 63,000 young people have already taken up one of 181,000 available Kickstart jobs, which are fully funded by the Government and can lead onto permanent opportunities.

The Department for Work and Pensions has also partnered with Google to provide 9,000 jobseekers with training in technology and IT skills that can lead to a Google Career Certificate, Google’s Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat was also in attendance at today’s event.

The courses are recognised by industry experts and employers, but do not require relevant experience or a degree to enrol.

Universal Credit claimants are referred to the scholarships by their Work Coach, who can combine it with additional tailored support on offer through the Government’s multi-billion-pound Plan for Jobs, aimed at protecting, supporting and creating jobs for people of all ages across the country.

To find out more about these programmes and many others on offer, speak to your Work Coach or visit the Job Help website.