Marks & Spencer to offer 1,400 work placements

High street retailer Marks & Spencer has launched a new youth employability scheme, Make Your Mark, in partnership with youth charity, The Prince’s Trust, to offer more than 1,400 work experience placements for 16-25 year olds. With youth

unemployment in the UK at a record high, with one in five 16-25 year olds struggling to find a job, the retailer is hoping that its new training and job placement programme will help “address the skills and experience gap” that prevents young people from finding work.

Marc Bolland, Chief Executive at Marks & Spencer, said: “Youth unemployment has become one of today’s key social issues and we want to lead the charge for businesses to do more to tackle it head on.

“That’s why we’ve set aside 1,400 new placements for young people in our stores and have called on our suppliers and other businesses to start engaging their communities and make their own commitments to youth opportunity, using the 2 percent benchmark as we have.”

Marks & Spencer launches Make Your Mark

Inspired by the retailer’s Marks & Start employability scheme, the new initiative is aimed at taking the retailer’s support for young people to the next level with 1,400 new placements set aside. Young people on the scheme will complete a four-week unpaid work experience programme, which will be spent either in training or on the shop floor.

The scheme will include three days of tailored training modules aimed at raising participants’ knowledge of the retail industry, as well as developing workplace and life skills such as CV writing, networking and confidence building.

Tanith Dodge, HR Director at Marks & Spencer, added: “There are nearly a million young people not in employment, education or training and we risk having an entire generation missing out on their chance to show their working potential and make a contribution to society.

“We hope to make a real and lasting impact on the lives of many young people. The program builds on our experiences of our employability scheme, Marks and Start, launched in 2004, which supports people to overcome significant barriers to employment. We believe that by not investing in our future workforce now, we will only be facing a talent deficit tomorrow.”

Make Your Mark will have three intakes throughout the year at stores across the UK. The first intake will be on July 1, with further sessions running in September and February.

It is hoped that a majority of the participants will find employment with Marks & Spencer, however the retailer has said that if after evaluation the young person requires additional support prior to employment, or if a job vacancy isn’t available at their store, they will receive six months post-placement support with The Prince’s Trust to find an alternative outcome.