{"id":5706,"date":"2021-12-19T06:12:57","date_gmt":"2021-12-19T06:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tunnelingworld.com\/?p=5706"},"modified":"2021-12-19T06:12:57","modified_gmt":"2021-12-19T06:12:57","slug":"hs2-welcomes-first-tranche-of-west-midlands-kickstart-young-people-to-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tunnelingworld.com\/?p=5706","title":{"rendered":"HS2 Welcomes First Tranche of West Midlands \u2018Kickstart\u2019 Young People to Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Kickstarter<\/a>\u2019 which launched in September 2020 had the aim to support young people whose employment prospects were adversely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. It provides those aged 16-24, and in receipt of Universal Credit, with the opportunity to secure a paid work placement.<\/p>\n

As part of its commitment to support local people into work, Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV)<\/a>, HS2<\/a>\u2019s construction partner, pledged that it would provide 30 youngsters with a six-month paid placement. Now the first of those to be recruited have gone on to secure full-time jobs with BBV on HS2.<\/p>\n

\nHS2\u2019s Skills Manager for the West Midlands, Julie Venn-Morton, stated:<\/span>
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve already committed to creating 2,000 apprenticeships and this is a further sign of the employment boost that HS2 is creating, especially for young people.\u201d<\/i><\/span>
\n\u201cWe hope that everyone who successfully completes their paid work trial will go onto secure not just a job, but a life-long career opportunity.\u201d<\/i><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

24-year-old Amanda from Solihull, 22-year-old Samuel from Tamworth and 23-year-old Jack from Birmingham have all signed new employment contracts with BBV, enabling them to start their careers working full-time on Europe\u2019s biggest engineering project.<\/p>\n

Amanda who had struggles to find paid work, was volunteering in her local community. She heard about the paid placement with BBV but didn\u2019t imagine that the construction sector would offer the type of job that she was searching for.<\/p>\n

\nAmanda, who is now working as a Performance and Reporting Analyst mentioned:<\/span>
\n\u201cIf you\u2019d have told me growing up that I\u2019d be working in construction I really wouldn\u2019t have believed it, but that\u2019s because I had no idea about the variety of jobs that are needed to help deliver HS2.\u201d<\/i><\/span>
\n\u201cI\u2019m a detail person, so an analytical role really suits me, and I can see myself developing a career from this opportunity.\u201d<\/i><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

Jack\u2019s Kickstart placement has enabled him to put his Mathematics degree into practice. He\u2019d always wanted to work in finance and accountancy and his new role as Site Support Officer is a step on the ladder towards achieving his career goal. On a day-to-day basis, he\u2019s responsible for invoicing, matching suppliers and buyers, and ensuring that everyone gets paid on time.<\/p>\n

\nJack believed:<\/span>
\n\u201cThis is such a landmark project. I feel lucky that I\u2019m starting my career here and putting my degree into practice. Kickstart enabled me to get my foot in the door and just two months later, I\u2019ve got a full-time job doing exactly what I wanted to do. I\u2019m excited for what the future holds.\u201d<\/i><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

Samuel had been working as a laborer but was laid off during lockdown. The construction sector had always appealed to him and he\u2019d set his sights on becoming a mechanical engineer. After successfully finishing his work placement, BBV is investing in his future and supporting his career goal by offering him a Level 4 Site Engineering Technician apprenticeship.<\/p>\n

\nSamuel, who will split his time studying at South and City College and working across BBV\u2019s West Midlands and Warwickshire construction sites asserted:<\/span>
\n\u201cThe scale and challenge that this role offers are huge and I know I\u2019ll probably never work on a project this big ever again. it\u2019s exciting to know I\u2019m going to be part of the team laying the tracks for Britain\u2019s new railway. I\u2019m so grateful for this opportunity.\u201d<\/i><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Head of Stakeholders and Communities at Balfour Beatty VINCI, Shilpi Akbar, declared:<\/span>
\n\u201cAt Balfour Beatty VINCI, providing opportunities for young people across the region is one of our absolute priorities. We want everyone – particularly those who are currently unemployed \u2013 to enjoy the wide range of opportunities available through the construction of HS2.\u201d<\/i><\/span>
\n\u201cThrough the Kickstart scheme, young people will not only develop and hone the skills required to thrive in their future careers but will see the substantial benefit of their work enjoyed for years to come. As the first of our Kickstart placements settle happily into their permanent roles, it is clearly not an opportunity to be missed.\u201d<\/i><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

BBV estimates that it will need a workforce of about 7,000 people to deliver its program of work on the HS2 project. It is already employing apprentices, graduates and providing free training and support to assist local people who are out of work into employment.<\/p>\n

For further information on careers and opportunities with HS2 and within the supply chain, you can visit here<\/a> .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Kickstarter\u2019 which launched in September 2020 had the aim to support young people whose employment prospects were adversely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. It provides those aged 16-24, and in receipt of Universal Credit, with the opportunity to secure a paid work placement. As part of its commitment to support local people into work, Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV), HS2\u2019s construction partner, pledged that it would provide 30 youngsters with a six-month paid placement. Now the first of those to be recruited have gone on to secure full-time jobs with BBV on HS2. HS2\u2019s Skills Manager for the West Midlands, Julie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,43],"tags":[694,190,1332,45,371],"class_list":["post-5706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-project-show-case","tag-balfour-beatty","tag-bbv","tag-high-speed-2","tag-hs2","tag-kickstarter","post--single"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tunnelingworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tunnelingworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tunnelingworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tunnelingworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tunnelingworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tunnelingworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5706\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tunnelingworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tunnelingworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tunnelingworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tunnelingworld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}