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News
David Woods, 10 May 2011
Supermarket chain Asda is to offer 6,000 apprenticeships by the end of this year and up to 25,000 by the end of 2012, giving thousands of young people the chance to gain an accredited qualification.
The company, which last month acquired retailer Netto, is also poised to launch a five new shift leader job roles in each of 147 Netto stores, meaning it will recruit 150 new staff and train-up existing managers.
For the apprenticeship scheme, Asda has partnered with City and Guilds. The course will take between six and 12 months for staff to complete following an initial 12-week training scheme and staff will have an accredited qualification upon completion.
Asda made a commitment to creating 7,500 jobs in 2011, of which 1,500 will be in converted Netto stores.
Speaking to HR magazine, Sarah Dickins, people operations and policy director at Asda, said: "The development of people is paramount to our success. We already have a good track record, but we want to give people more skills - and we plan to create 7,500 new jobs by 2011.
"We want to change the face of retail so young people see it as the first place to go for a career. If our people have the right attitude, we are focused on growing their careers with or without qualifications."
5 comments on this article |
Peter Copping 10 May 2011
Many 'new' apprenticeships are in retailing. Are they a really worthwhile contribution to the employablity of those who take them. They may aid retention by the employer and for a few they may offer a career but what happens to the rest. I doubt if they do much to increase the stock of trained people in England. (I think the policy which finances these is an English Gov initiative.)
David Jefferies 10 May 2011
I think this is a brilliant idea and congratulations to Asda. I disagree with the previous post. I think this is an excellent use of tax payers money as working for a social landlord in Warrington, there is so many young people out of work on our estates. I would prefer the government to spend money in this way than continuing to create a burden of dependency via benefits. This is great news and I hope they recruit in Warrington!
Larry Sportello 11 May 2011
Sorry but this is a case of the government subsidising things that the private sector would have done anyway - the evaluation evidence of the recent apprenticeship schemes showed that effectively the government was paying for investments that would have otherwise been made. No wonder ASDA is chomping at the bit - they get the government to pay their training costs and can pay their staff less than the minimum wage.
David Jefferies 12 May 2011
I'm not sure which report Larry is referring to, but having worked extensively in retail and now working in social housing, I am very aware of cost pressures both in a private sector environment and also in the third sector. Such broad sweeping comments made by the previous post could be made about any subsidy provided by the Government to private industry, but unless Larry lives in an affluent part of the UK where there are loads of employment opportunities any intervention by the state to provide job opportunities has to be welcomed. So lets praise other retailers who are also investing in the skills in the communities they serve, such as Morrisons and Sainsbury's. Private sector companies are going to provide the jobs Britain needs and I think we'd all agree if the government wasn't providing this finacial incentive you can rest assured that less opportunities would have been offered. Let Larry come to Warrington to see 3 generations of families that have not worked. Unfortunately Britain no longer has the manufacturing base for unskilled workers, so apart from retail, what other industry should we be supporting to provide such opportunities to our disadvantaged communities?
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