Marks & Spencer launches work experience programme
10,000 placements aimed at hard-to-place jobseekers
February 14 2004
Marks & Spencer is launching a work experience programme offering up to 10,000 placements to people who may face barriers getting a job.
Called Marks & Start, the programme is the biggest of its kind in the UK and Ireland. Over the next three years, two-to-four week work experience placements in M&S stores and offices will be offered to school children, including those from deprived areas; disabled people; parents returning to work; the young unemployed; the homeless and students who are the first in their family to go to university.
The aim is to provide a taste of life in a working environment and the confidence and ability to get a job. M&S already has a commitment with Business in the Community to offer 600 placements to homeless people. Of 455 people who have completed this programme so far, over 30 per cent are now employed at M&S or elsewhere.
Marks & Start also extends the company’s long-standing work experience programme for 14-16 year olds by offering more placements to school children from deprived areas.
A report published The Work Foundation highlights the need for more companies to provide placements to help excluded groups find sustained employment. Of the 3.5m people in the UK who currently want work but do not have a job, homeless people and people with disabilities are among those that face the greatest challenges finding employment.
Marks & Start has also been designed to develop the skills of M&S employees. Each participant will be allocated an M&S buddy as a mentor. Over 70 per cent of M&S staff who have already been buddies to homeless people on placement reported that the experience helped to develop their own skills.
M&S chairman Luc Vandevelde said: “Marks & Start will open the door to employment for thousands of people who face particular challenges getting a job. We’ve already offered many placements to the homeless and we know that practical work experience and being part of a team can boost an individual’s self-esteem and their ability to find employment.
“Around 1,000 of our employees will be involved in Marks & Start every year. Being a mentor to someone who’s homeless, unemployed or has disabilities can be both challenging and motivating and the experience will develop the skills of our own people.
“Marks & Start now becomes Marks & Spencer’s flagship community programme and matches our philosophy of helping others to help themselves. We believe that focusing our resources on one particular area gives us a greater opportunity to make a positive impact in the communities where we operate.”
Andy Westwood, head of policy research at The Work Foundation said: “Marks & Start is a bold initiative to address some of the country’s most stubborn social problems. There are still far too many people excluded from the mainstream economic and social life of the UK, and far too few high quality, private sector opportunities for such individuals. Some employers like Marks & Spencer are already engaging with these groups; others should also look at how they can get involved.
“By examining the potential of groups that other employers often ignore, Marks & Spencer has tapped into a valuable source of recruitment and has developed an initiative that will deliver both benefits to its business and to society.”
Marks & Spencer is partnering with a number of charities to deliver Marks & Start including: The Prince’s Trust for the young employed programme; DisabledGo ror the people with disabilities programme; Business Action on Homelessness for the homeless programme; and One Parent Families and Parentline for the parents returning to work programme. Each Marks & Start strand is also sponsored by an M&S director.
