A workforce for the future – helping young people enter the world of work.
Whilst much is being said about how we should come out of lockdown and what should have been done or not done there seems to be a consensus that in terms of employment and impact on their lives young people have been very adversely affected. This is as true in our area as any other and we all need to see what we can do to help.
At Jacksons we are very proud of our apprenticeship programme and throughout the last 18 months we have continued to take new apprentices. Whilst we want to do our bit to help young people our reasons for starting this programme and continuing it are not purely altruistic. We recognise that to grow our workforce and to prepare for the future we need new employees to care for our clients and we have found the apprenticeship programme enables us to train our own. Watching our apprentices grow and receiving feedback from clients about the care and service they provide is one of the most rewarding parts of my role. These young people bring a fresh outlook and energy to our business and as they develop are integral and very valuable members of our teams. Our firm would be a much poorer place without them.
I understand however that even with the financial support available to take apprentices that not every business is lucky enough to be able to do this. There is a part we can all play though in helping young people. We can talk to them about our job and our career path, we can offer work experience or just help with contacts to get work experience, we can visit schools and do careers talks or fairs and we can join in programmes such as those offered by High Tide Foundation ( currently providing virtual career experiences) or mentoring schemes offered by groups such as The Girls Network. This is really a case of every little helps and I can honestly say the time I spend each month with my mentee from The Girls Network is one of the highlights of my time. If everyone did something small to help a young person experience the world of work in some way the impact would be huge and would go a long way to convincing young people that they are valued and wanted and haven’t been forgotten. Let’s all pledge to do our bit and see what we can achieve.
If anyone would like to talk to me about our apprenticeship programme or any of the initiatives Jacksons has been involved in then get in touch.
Jane Armitage
Tees Business Woman of the Year 2020
Jacksons Law Firm
