The Rigby Group invests to boost youth careers in the West Midlands

The Rigby Group has announced an investment through its foundation to tackle the increasing issue of youth unemployment in the West Midlands.

Currently, there are over 130,000 unemployed individuals in the West Midlands, including 20,930 young people aged 16-24. The initiative is designed to provide opportunities for at least 300 young individuals to embark on tech careers over the next three years.

An investment of £600,000 will assist the employment firm Generation UK in delivering skills bootcamps specifically designed to empower young people who face barriers to employment.

These bootcamps will furnish participants with essential technical skills including cloud and data engineering, cyber security, data analytics, green energy, sustainable construction, and health and care.

Steve Rigby, chair of The Rigby Foundation, emphasised the critical need to tackle the skills shortage that is hindering the region’s progress: “As a family with close personal and business connections to the West Midlands, we want to see more young people in our region gain the education and skills they need to secure life changing, well paid employment.”

“We are a community-focused family and want to play our part in giving our home region’s young people the opportunity to make a successful life for themselves. I am also urging other business leaders in the region to get behind the mayor’s initiative, whether by offering training, work placements or apprenticeships. By all working together we can achieve great things and bring about much needed change.”

“This is the first year of a three year long-term partnership with Generation UK, equipping young people with skills that are in high demand from West Midlands based businesses.”

Michael Houlihan, CEO of Generation UK, commented: “It is an honour to have such an established and respected group like The Rigby Foundation on board. We have been active in the West Midlands since 2020, but this funding means we can really grow in the region and will be able to help young adults secure well-paid and skilled professions where there is a real need such as in technology and the green retrofit sector.”

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay