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Balfour Beatty has pledged to increase the Group's ongoing commitment to its Apprentice, Graduate and Trainee recruitment programmes.
It will see the firm commit to a 30% increase in its 2020 Apprentice, Graduate and Trainee recruitment levels in comparison to the company’s 2019 intake levels.
As a member of The 5% Club, Balfour Beatty already exceeds its charter promise to dedicate 5% of its employees numbers to earn and learn positions. In 2019 it totaled 5.4% of its workforce in these roles, with an intake of 86 Graduates, 119 Apprentices and 26 Trainees.
The increased commitment sees these figures rise to 108 graduate placements, 160 Apprenticeships and 29 Trainee positions, bringing the total percentage of the company’s workforce in 'earn & learn' positions to 5.7%.
Balfour Beatty's action follows on from a letter sent earlier this year by Group Chief Executive, Leo Quinn, to the CEOs of over eight hundred UK companies - including the country’s FTSE250 companies and all members of The 5% Club.
The letter sought to galvanise support amongst employers and policymakers to shore up opportunities for the next generation of Apprentices, Graduates and Trainees, with the "plan for jobs" speech from the Chancellor, the Rt Hon. Rishi Sunak in July, a welcome step in the right direction.
Mr Quinn said: "The economic fallout from COVID-19 will cast a long and damaging shadow over today’s young if we do not act. Swathes of young people face an uncertain future as businesses define their future.
"Yet amongst this turmoil, we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that those most at risk of losing their chance to build skilled careers are critical to helping us rebuild the economy – and our society – as we emerge from the crisis.
"For the construction and infrastructure industry, we must make sure we continue to bring in and develop new talent to secure the skills and capability essential to the successful delivery of Government’s ambitious plans for infrastructure investment.
"The country's future will be decided by the choices we make today: I urge all employers to hold to their original training plans. We must not let down an entire generation."
