More than 100 employers, including HSBC, General Motors and Virgin Media, have joined the Government traineeship scheme, which offers 16 to 24-year-olds help in writing a CV, interview practice, work placements of up to five months, and training in English and maths.
Skills minister Matthew Hancock said the Government is introducing the scheme to help get young people on the "first rung of the ladder".
"Employers value real experience, which is why I'm delighted that more than 100 businesses have come forward. I now want to urge more employers – no matter what size – to sign up to the programme and make the most of the talents of our young people," he said.
The Government has published a framework that sets out how traineeships will work. It takes on board the views of more than 450 responses to a traineeships discussion paper that was published in January 2013.
Yesterday, figures from the Office of National Statistics showed 959,000 16 to 24-year-olds in the UK were unemployed in the three months to May – a jobless rate of 20.9%. Although this was a drop of 20,000 compared to the previous three months.
