Leading employers, Birmingham City Council and three MPs have joined forces to organise the city’s largest ever Youth Jobs Fair, in a bid to tackle sky-high youth unemployment in the city.
MPs urged the city’s young people to make the most of the event on Friday at the Matthew Boulton Campus of Birmingham Metropolitan College.
National Express West Midlands, Birmingham’s biggest private sector employer, will be joined by other big names showcasing their career opportunities such as Royal Mail, Capitol FM, Birmingham City Council and Jaguar Land Rover.
Labour MPs Liam Byrne (Hodge Hill), Shabana Mahmood (Ladywood) and Jack Dromey (Erdington) organised the event, which is also backed by Birmingham Chamber of Commerce.
There are 1,960 young people aged 18 to 24 claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance in Ladywood – the worst figure for any constituency in the entire country.
And the constituency with the second worst rate of youth unemployment is Hodge Hill, where 1,850 people aged 18 to 24 claim Jobseeker’s Allowance.
As well as providing young people with a chance to meet employers and look for work, the event will launch a programme called The City’s Young Talent for Business – which offers firms a subsidy to provide jobs or apprentices. Firms will be able to claim up to £3,000 when they recruit a young person as an apprentice or £4,500 if they take on young people in other vacancies.
Mr Byrne said: “We’re determined to give our young people the best thing we can offer in life: a chance. This first ever east Birmingham Youth Jobs Fair sees the city pull together like never before to connect our young people with a host of great careers. There will be hundreds of job and apprenticeship opportunities on show with some of the country’s biggest employers.”
Ms Mahmood said: “I urge young people from across the city, but especially in Ladywood, to come and see the great careers that are on offer in our area.”
Peter Coates, Managing Director of National Express West Midlands, said: “As Birmingham’s biggest private sector employer, we have an important role to play in the local economy and jobs market. We are committed to getting more young people behind the wheels of our vehicles and helping them build rewarding careers.”
