Launching an apprenticeship scheme to plug the skills gap

Award-winning cloud computing provider, Memset, have today announced they have launched an apprenticeship scheme due to the ongoing frustration of not being able to recruit the right people with the right skills.

Whilst the government is doing all it can to encourage businesses to take on apprentices to help develop the skills of the British workforce and to promote the growth and rebalancing of the UK economy, Memset’s apprenticeship scheme has been launched for an entirely different reason.

Memset MD, Kate Craig-Wood, explains: “We’re turning to apprentices as universities just don’t seem to be teaching the right skills.  For example, there are hardly any courses that teach Python programming or Linux systems administration despite the fact that they are becoming the tools of choice for the globally-leading ICT companies. We’re faced with having to sift through a lot of graduates who are of little use to us, who have often been encouraged to take 'business' or 'entrepreneurship' modules rather than practically applicable skills that are useful to an employer!”

“We’re hoping that by getting them young and training them as we want, we can equip them with the relevant skills that we need, and start them off in the right direction for a fulfilling career in the ICT industry,” said Craig-Wood.

Tim Hall Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Learning, said: “The number of young people in Surrey not in education, employment or training (NEET) is very low compared to the national average but the council’s goal is make sure nobody in Surrey is classed as NEET by 2015.”

Under Memset’s Apprenticeship scheme, for one week in every month the new apprentice will attend a comprehensive course in systems administration at a Microsoft training centre.  The other three weeks of the month will be spent at Memset, working alongside the junior and senior systems administrators and putting new skills into practice.  They will also have the opportunity to visit Memset's data centres and assist with server rack wiring and maintenance.

“By putting this apprenticeship scheme in place Memset can now invest in the futures of our local youth, and if this experiment with 1-2 apprentices works then we may well expand the scheme in coming months,” concluded Craig-Wood.

 For information on these and other jobs at memset please see memset.com/jobs.