One hundred companies have signed up to Nick Clegg's social mobility strategy, pledging their firms will open up opportunities for work experience to try to bring an end to career advancement by "who you know".
Supermarkets, banks, law firms and energy providers have committed to advertise work-experience places openly. Barclays, HSBC, Santander, Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer and Morrisons have signed up and join already enrolled companies such as Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Allen & Overy, BP, Shell and E.ON. Together the new firms employ more than two million people in Britain and have a turnover of over £500bn.
The new tranche of participants is a boon to the deputy prime minister, who has been made to feel that his project is something of a pet whim. When the prime minister was pressed on why he allowed acquaintances to be interns in his constituency office he said he was "very relaxed" about it. Clegg said: "I'm not relaxed about this at all."
The project does not enjoy support across the board though. The Labour MP for Liverpool Wavertree, Luciana Berger, produced research over Christmas showing that government-funded arts and sports bodies have employed more than 800 unpaid interns in the last two years in the face of moves led by Clegg to end the practice.
By agreeing to take part in Clegg's scheme, the companies have agreed to the following:
• Through visits by staff and mentoring schemes, companies should work with schools to encourage pupils' ambitions.
• Advertise work experience places in schools rather than hoping individuals will learn of opportunities informally.
• Provide financial support so that young people from poorer backgrounds are not put off.
• Use application forms that prevent candidates from being screened out on the grounds of education history or ethnicity.
Clegg said: "This is an important step towards a society where it's what you know, not who you know, that counts. Working with the coalition, the biggest hitters in British business are helping lead the way to a fairer, more open society.
"By opening their doors to young people from all walks of life, this marks the start of a culture shift among major employers, driven by the belief that ability and drive should trump connections and privilege."
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12 January 2012 12:19AM
Sorry, are they getting paid? You know to pay bills etc?
12 January 2012 1:01AM
Yeah, right. Stick it to those private school kids using mummy's and daddy's network of business friends to land themselves that job shelf-stacking at Tesco.
It's access to the professions that Clegg needs to address, not junior management in retail.
12 January 2012 2:13AM
This half baked "social mobility strategy" probably wouldn't be needed if Nick Clegg and his Tory chums hadn't ripped the foundations out of the British Economy with all of the dire social consequences attached.
12 January 2012 5:32AM
Working low-level jobs in an assortment of companies will do absolutely nothing to tackle social mobility.
Then there's the fact that they're busy cutting Sure Start and bastardising the EMA system. Both of which will hurt the poor disproportionately harder and will make things even worse.
12 January 2012 6:26AM
Work experience is a good idea and I support it. I doubt it will have much effect, if any, on social mobility. If the posts are unpaid, then we are still at the same position of some students not being financially able to take them up.
I do hope that this programme is not being overlapped with the concept of apprenticeships, which should absolutely be 1) paid; 2) include actual and demonstrable training for a profession; 3) lead to a job.
Are the companies being paid to participate?
12 January 2012 6:29AM
You mean application forms without a name? or an address? How's that going to work?
12 January 2012 7:04AM
The British people will be one of the worst off in the western world in 10-20 years time, the MPs do not want to sort out the main problem - Immigration.
Far too much immigration in all areas, from the people at the bottom of the scale to right up the scale in International companies. I have no problem with immigration I came from an Immigrant family, but we need controlled immigration, How does a graduate stand a chance when international companies are hiring cheap labor from Russia and China. Now companies can do whatever they like but the government has power to change this, they should offer work visas no longer then 2-3 years and only renew based on unemployment figures in the graduate sector.
Excessive Capitalism has failed the west now, globalization will soon fail us all.
12 January 2012 7:14AM
100 companies pledge to open up work-experience opportunities
Pledge? Pledge? What absolute bollocks.Any pledge relating to the con artist Clegg should be taken with a pinch of salt. Work-experience opportunities? Don't you mean slave labour opportunities?
12 January 2012 7:36AM
No, just unpaid slave labour for the peasants under the guise of work experience. Just look at the calibre of some of the businesses that have come forward, many of which have a long history in exploiting cheap labour.
12 January 2012 8:47AM
SLAVE LABOUR I hope someone takes the gov to court over this c***.
12 January 2012 8:51AM
Recruiting drive for Camerons big society bollocks.
Looks like all work and no pay
12 January 2012 8:58AM
WTF? First question, most important question, are they getting paid? If so, what will they be paid?
The sole problem across the board in our society is low wage pay, the inability to make a decent wage while working. That is a fairly simple concept in terms of humanity. People go to work each day, they earn a wage, one that then is split multiple ways as we all know. When people can't or don't earn a wage that gets split multiple ways, then society as a whole begins to crumble. Economic strength, human growth isn't in creating slaves, history has taught us that much.
Insisting that corporations pay a fair and decent wage to those that want to earn while learning, to those that want to gain experience used to be something corporations did because they had a conscience, understood about loyalty and investment in people, that returns multiply when people matter.
Clegg disgusts me, this little pet project as many have already pointed out is nothing more than a stamp of the foot at corporations, allow the poor and working classes in, give them enough for travel since our travel expenses on this small island are the most expensive in the world and let's get them to and from the free slave labour we will be supplying for you. The promise of a job, a real paying job, well, maybe....
I've only got two words for Clegg and his ultra conservative greed and idiocy F off.
12 January 2012 9:41AM
More bullshit to add to the vast, steaming heap that this shower of twonkers is so very good at producing.
Wot an arse.
12 January 2012 9:43AM
Someone is taking the government to court.
http://www.publicinterestlawyers.co.uk/news_details.php?id=200
12 January 2012 10:12AM
The fact that employers are volunteering to take on unpaid labour is hardly earth-shattering.
12 January 2012 10:19AM
Good for her good luck
12 January 2012 10:20AM
Work placements: 21st century Britain's equivalent of the workhouse.
12 January 2012 10:35AM
When you hear the complaint about "lack of access to work experience", it tends to be in respect of the heavy-hitting globals (BP, Shell) or certain glamour fields (Allen and Overy). Would we be right in thinking that "law firm" is actually singular not plural on that list of examples?
Good on the likes of Tesco and Santander, of course, but I think they are a different animal here. A lot of the type of company that genuinely wants the best make sure they are as inclusive as they can be when seeking their next generation. And young people complaining about lack of access tend not to be thinking retail or bank telling.
So, the Houses of Parliament? The political parties and politicians' private offices? London publishing, media and advertising companies? Fashion houses? Museums?
And the Guardian? You've told us your policies many times before now and so I am not taking a pop at them and no need fora re-hash. But aren't you signed up?
When you hear the complaint about "lack of access to work experience", it tends to be in respect of the heavy-hitting globals (BP, Shell) or certain glamour fields (Allen and Overy).
12 January 2012 11:30AM
@OrigamiPenguin - Did you read the article? It says that (as well as retailers and energy companies), law firms and banks have signed up to the initiative.
12 January 2012 11:36AM
@Helen121 - It is possible to do this. Application forms can be structured in a way that name and address (and other information not relevant to screening the candidate for suitablity such as age, ethnic origin, gender etc) can be removed and kept by HR and the rest of the information given to the people who will for example select for interview.
This requires a bit of thinking, but I don't believe it would be that difficult.
12 January 2012 12:11PM
100 companies opt to not pay their staff.