One thousand green jobs for young unemployed people are being offered by British Gas over the next three years.
The energy supplier announced the skilled job opportunities today in partnership with environment charity Global Action Plan and consultancy Accenture.
The Transform partnership will give free sustainability training to 1,400 17-25 year olds not currently in education, employment or training. Each person which completes the course will earn a BTEC qualification and is guaranteed an interview with British Gas.
The 1,000 full-time roles for British Gas will be working with its government-mandated scheme, the ECO (Energy Company Obligation) programme, which improves housing with energy saving measures such as insulation.
It follows a recent report by the Work Foundation which found that since the start of the recession, youth unemployment in the UK has risen faster than any other G8 nation.
In November and December 2012, Transform was successfully piloted in Walsall and Glasgow where all 17 jobs on offer were filled, including successful applicant 21-year-old Jeevan Dhillan (pictured).
Claire Williams, Managing Director of British Gas New Energy said: “Growth, unemployment and sustainability are big challenges for the country. Big British companies have a responsibility to make a positive contribution which is why we are taking action to create skilled green jobs in areas of low employment.
“This training will make a difference to unemployed young people who will get skills and jobs as well as hard-pressed households who will benefit from energy efficiency measures”.