Tesco has today set out further details of its participation in the Kickstart programme, which will create 1,000 work placements for young people across the UK.
In partnership with Job Centre Plus, Tesco will place up to three Kickstarters in over 400 of its large stores across England, Scotland and Wales, targeted in areas of higher youth unemployment.
Tesco will provide a quality 6-month experience for Kickstarters, with a focus on training, e-learning modules, and providing the tools for further self-learning. To support this and maximise the training opportunities available to Kickstarters, they will also all be provided with a personal tablet device to allow them to access invaluable training modules.
At the end of the placements, Tesco will support Kickstarters to access permanent roles. To further support the training and development of colleagues who stay with the business, Tesco also plans to provide them the opportunity to move on to a Level 2 Retail Apprenticeship programme.
Tesco will self-fund the full costs of participating in the Kickstart scheme, and will pay all Kickstarters in line with current store pay levels, with the hourly rate increasing from the current £9.00 to £9.30 from 4th October 2020.
Jason Tarry, Tesco UK & ROI CEO, said:
“I’m delighted that we are able to support the Kickstart scheme and invest in the employment, training and development of 1,000 young people across the UK, at a time when they face a very challenging employment climate. The scheme will offer these young people a valuable start to their careers, as well as the opportunity to build lifelong skills through our wide range of training and development programmes.’