Semta offers funding to support graduate recruitment
Sector skills council Semta is to offer funding to help more than 200 graduates gain employment in the in the advanced manufacturing and engineering sector.
The organisation submitted a proposal to the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) to provide SMEs with the grants to support the employment and training of graduates via their Employer Investment Fund.
The UKCES has now awarded a contract to Semta which is expected to deliver genuine reductions in youth unemployment by March 2013, with at least one third of the opportunities in the devolved nations – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Semta's UK operations director, Lynn Tomkins commented: "This money will make a real difference. Only 15% of SMEs in advanced manufacturing and engineering employ graduates. Our ambition is to see this rise to 17% over the next three years.
"It will take 200 young people off the unemployment register and into paid and productive employment, resulting in them becoming economically active and contributing to UK Plc."