Enhanced Employment and Enterprise Bureaus to help young people prepare for the world of work
Every further education college in Wales now has a dedicated Employment and Enterprise Bureau to help young people prepare for the world of work by supporting them to find a job or setting up their own business.
The enhanced Bureaus are an important part of the Welsh Government’s flagship Young Person’s Guarantee, which commits to providing everyone under the age of 25 living in Wales with support to gain a place in education or training and help to get into work or become self-employed.
The Young Person’s Guarantee will help protect a generation from the impacts of lost learning and delayed labour market entry caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, and to help make Wales a place where more young people feel confident in planning their future.
The bureaus will create opportunities for learners to engage with local, regional and national employers; present varied routes into employment via programmes such as Jobs Growth Wales+, Apprenticeships and Big Ideas Wales; provide one-to-one advice and guidance; and encourage aspirations for entrepreneurship amongst learners through an entrepreneurship champion in each institution.
Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said:
“The enhanced Employment and Enterprise Bureaus form a key element of our strategy to prevent youth unemployment and ensure young people are not held back nor left behind as a result of the pandemic.
“They will provide a breadth of employment support and opportunities to streamline their transition from learners to workers.
“This will include nurturing ambitions for enterprise and entrepreneurship and embedding pathways into the world of self-employment. Encouraging young adults to stay in Wales by building their careers and launching their own businesses here will be instrumental as we re-design our economy post-coronavirus.
“The Employment and Enterprise Bureaus have also been designed to create talent pipeline needed to deliver on our Net Zero target, nurturing skills suitable for the sectors we need to grow.
“We want young people to get the best possible start in the world of work and I am determined we do all we can as a government to help deliver the long-term economic benefits our young people deserve.”