Tackling Youth Unemployment - Greggs Experience

Roisin CurriePeople Director

About Greggs

• 1,571 shops across the UK• Ten regional bakeries• 1 central savoury production plant• 1 specialist confectionery bakery• 2 distribution centres• 20,000+ employees• A growing business – we will recruit

800+ new people in next 12 months

Our company Values define what we do…

We will be enthusiastic and supportive in all that we do, open, honest and appreciative,

treating everyone with fairness, consideration and respect

Why tackling youth unemployment is absolutely critical to us…

• Young people form 1/3 of our workforce, circa 7,000 18-24 year olds at Greggs

• People tend to stay at Greggs for a long time once they have joined us

• Young people are our customers as well as our employees

• Add quality, vibrancy and richness of ideas to our workforce (e.g. Our young bakery apprentices)

• We can learn a lot from them, as well as them from us (e.g. young people use technology and communicate with each other in a different way – it is important as a business to tap into this)

What we did in 2011…• 31 Head Office 8 week placements offered through Job

Centre Plus• 7 graduate and 4 undergraduates on 2-year programme• 5 work placements for young people through BBC3 ‘Up for

Hire’ programme• 10 young apprentices recruited in 2011• Employed 4 people from Business Action on Homelessness• Recruited 27 people in London and the South through Action

for Employment, giving jobs to long term unemployed people• 50 women through Low Newton Prison ‘I’m Ready to Work’

programme, in partnership with other companies

Partners help drive success

Our thoughts on the Youth Contract

• We ALL need to drive this agenda• Anything that will make a difference is positive• It is critical that it pays young people to find a job

• TO BE EFFECTIVE:• Needs to be simple• Work practically• Simple overview for employers to engage them• Needs to be sustainable

Challenges and opportunities of private sector engagement

• We need the best talent available• We need to seek out talented young people and

engage with people who might not progress through normal channels

• Diversity is critical in running a successful business• Tough Climate for businesses – not as many

opportunities available - an incentive will make a difference.

Challenges and opportunities of private sector engagement

• Ensuring the young people are work-ready • Employers will have false starts which can switch

them off, so we need people who are engaged and willing and not doing a placement because benefits will otherwise be removed

• Engagement of current staff – need their understanding and buy in

• Placements to suit the person - best fit and potential longer-term sustainability

Greggs commitment to tackling youth unemployment• A minimum of 50 placements in 2012• Work with our partners to deliver this • Working with Action for Employment (A4E) as a

national partner following a trial in London and the South

• Continue growing our partnerships with HMP to recruit ex-offenders and stop the cycle of re-offending / unemployment

• Continue working with Business Action on Homelessness

Greggs commitment to tackling youth unemployment

• Schools and Business links are critical• Right to Read with Primary Schools• Business Class with Secondary schools• 180 Breakfast Clubs to tackle the issue of child

poverty and feed 8,000 children each morning providing them with a real chance of being able to concentrate and learn for the rest of the day.

• Through these we aim to play an important part in setting people on the right track from an early age.

Lots More to be done in 2012