Our industry plan to support Kickstart

The UK’s unemployment figures underline the huge impact COVID-19 is having on the employment prospects of young people across the UK. In December, Job Centre Plus reported that youth unemployment had increased to 14.5% - three times higher than the UK population. Young people claiming unemployment benefits also increased by a staggering 120% between March and November last year.

To mitigate the scarring impact of long-term unemployment, Investment20/20, the IA’s talent solution, is encouraging investment managers to join an industry-wide initiative facilitating the Government’s Kickstart programme of six-month’s work experience for 16-24 year-olds on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment. Finding your first job is daunting enough, but faced with the worst jobs market in a generation, young people with little or no work experience will struggle to get their foot on the ladder without this essential intervention.

As part of the industry’s Kickstart scheme, Investment20/20 is acting as the conduit between the industry and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and has secured the necessary 30 roles to take part. Members taking part will pay the London Living Wage to each workplace participant, as the industry will be self-funding the placements at no cost to the taxpayer.

The development of work placement participants will be supported by Investment20/20’s award winning Think Investments programme, and insight sessions that complement on-the-job training and provide an industry-wide perspective.

While 30 work placements is a strong start, we know our industry can do more. If your firm isn’t already taking part, please join us and help young people get the experience they need to move into sustained employment. For further details please click here and contact [email protected].

Our Kickstart firms:

• Border to Coast
• Brooks Macdonald
• Fidelity
• HSBC Global Asset Management
• Invesco
• The Investment Association
• J O Hambro Capital Management
• J.P. Morgan Asset Management
• Jupiter Asset Management
• M&G 
• M J HudsonNeuberger Berman
• Orbis Investment Management 
• Principal Global Investors
• Standard Life Investments 

Tim Stumpff, Chief Executive of Principal Global Investors, said:

"The global pandemic has had an outsized economic impact on those in society who were already the most economically vulnerable. The Kickstart Scheme is designed to help alleviate that impact. All of us, but especially those - like the investment industry - who have historically ‘done quite well,’ have an obligation to do our part to help others build a better future. Participation in this programme not only helps achieve that goal but also helps with efforts to make the investment industry more inclusive, by building connections to a broader, more economically-diverse base of potential job candidates than our industry has traditionally recruited from.”