£18m of funding to support Londoners into jobs

Yesterday the Mayor of London announced a new project worth £18m to help Londoners find good jobs.

The funding will be invested in government accredited Skills Bootcamps which offer short, flexible courses up to 16 weeks in a range of different industries.

The aim is to help fast-track Londoners into jobs, with a focus on sectors which contribute to London’s recovery and long-term economic success, such as green skills, digital and construction.

Skills Bootcamps offer the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and a fast-track to interviews with local employers, while also helping to fill vacancies with skilled workers.

It’s hoped the programme will help train the unemployed and those with lower skill sets and on low-income.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: ‘These Skills Bootcamps will help us to continue building a better London for everyone, giving unemployed adults or those in low-income work a chance to learn or retrain and then go on to get good, future-proof jobs and careers.

‘Upskilling and accessible, affordable education are crucial to tackling the cost of living crisis and aiding post-covid recovery, and this additional funding will help even more Londoners to access free training and gain the skills they need to succeed in key industries of our economy.’ 

The funding comes as part of the London Recovery Programme to support Londoners most impacted by the pandemic.

Further skills support is also being implemented by City Hall and the Mayor of London’s £44m Academies Programme sets out to train people and offer support in finding jobs in priority sectors.

These include the green economy, digital, hospitality, health and creative industries.

In related news, the Local Government Association (LGA) believes the growing jobs crisis could be solved quicker if more powers were given to devolved councils and combined authorities.

Photo by Green Chameleon