GMCA wins £7m to upskill staff in bootcamps
Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has secured £7m from the Department for Education for the next phase of Skills Bootcamps in the city-region, which aim to help businesses recruit skilled workers.
Employers training their existing workforce are asked to pay 30% of training costs. This is reduced to 10% where an employer has less than 250 employees.
The bootcamps are designed to help people get into employment in key growth sectors, switch career or upskill into a better job.
GMCA is recruiting specialist training providers and employer partners with innovative ideas to train people for jobs in key sectors with skills shortages.
Councillor Eamonn O’Brien, Greater Manchester’s lead for Education, Work, Skills, Apprenticeships and Digital said: “Greater Manchester’s Skills Bootcamps programme goes from strength to strength. This funding boost will support even more adults across the region to take advantage of these free courses and get on the path to sustainable careers in key growth sectors. The programme also benefits employers by helping them to recruit a diverse workforce with the technical skills their businesses need”.
The programme supports key growth sectors of the Greater Manchester economy such as Digital, Creative & Tech, Construction, Green and Manufacturing and aligns with commitments made by Mayor Andy Burnham to set up the UK’s first integrated technical education system.
The pilot phase of Skills Bootcamps concluded at the end of 2022 and saw over 1,200 participants completing training courses. Notably, 57% of participants were from ethnic minority communities and 50% were unemployed. A total of 72% of those who completed pilot courses were offered a guaranteed interview with 54% moving into skilled employment.
In 22/23 GMCA funded 14 providers across three priority sectors – Digital, & Tech, Construction & Green and Manufacturing. There are a wide variety of Skills Bootcamps being delivered, covering skills gaps in areas such as digital marketing, cyber security, cloud engineering, low carbon heating, installation of green technologies, rail engineering, advanced manufacturing and industrial textiles.
