Matchmaker scores big success
Jan 23 2008 by Peter McCusker, The Journal
The departure of talented young people from the region has been a serious concern for business for years. At last the educational, business and publicity campaigns appear to be making a difference. The Journal reveals today that the trend may be coming to an end. Peter McCusker finds out why.
ASCHEME to encourage North-East graduates to stay in the region has placed 1,016 people with businesses since its launch five years ago.
One NorthEast’s Graduates for Business programme – which allows small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to experience the benefits graduates can bring to their business – has recently been allocated another £2.3m.
The agency’s skills and higher education manager Gillian Collinson said: “Retaining our graduates is so important for the future development of the region, and at the moment the North-East has a lower level of its economically active population qualified to degree level than any other English region.
“The benefit of the Graduates for Business programme is that it provides a way of introducing highly skilled people to regional businesses, which in turn will raise the number of former students staying in the region, increase the success of our businesses and the productivity of the North-East.”
As employees of participating companies, recent graduates will carry out high-level projects.
This gives SMEs the opportunity to expand their markets, improve processes, develop new products, introduce new technologies, increase sales and achieve financial savings.
One NorthEast’s funding subsidises the placement of recent graduates in regional SMEs by providing employers with a £70 a week allowance for 15 weeks.
The Graduates for Business programme is also designed to:
Provide a pathway for graduates through employment into enterprise and business;
Contribute towards encouraging enterprise and innovation in the workplace and workforce, in turn improving competitiveness;
Create enterprising and innovative individuals and businesses.
Graduates for Business has been running since 2003/04, with more than 80% of graduates placed with regional SMEs being retained in employment, resulting in a return of £3.83 (including turnover and profit) for every £1 invested, says One NorthEast.
Ms Collinson said: “If we are to meet the ambitious Regional Economic Strategy targets of creating between 18,000 and 22,000 new businesses and around 70,000 new jobs, we have to encourage our graduates to stay in the region.
“We need to show them that they can have a successful career in the region, that they can realise their ambitions here, and Graduates for Business enables us to do that.”
The North-East skills shortfall
THE proportion of young people entering higher education, at 36%, is one-fifth lower than the English average of 45%.
Some 21% of North-East people are educated to degree level or equivalent compared with 26% nationally.
The Government wants to raise the education standards across the country so that eventually 45% of the country will be at degree level or equivalent.
