Companies are helping kids who grew up in care get a start on career ladder

DESPITE the move towards diversity, equity and inclusion, one group is often overlooked by companies hiring for jobs.

Young people who grow up in care are three times less likely to be in education, employment or training by the time they reach 19 than their peers.

Lack of opportunity means they are also a third more likely to be made homeless than to go to university.

Only six per cent go on to further education, compared to more than a third of other schooleavers.

Shockingly, such people earn on average £6,000 less per year than those who have not.

Currently there are around 108,000 children in care across the UK, including in foster homes.

Some have been moved up to 30 times, making it hard for them to continue their studies and get qualifications to help them into work.

To help ensure all youngsters get equal access to jobs, a number of firms are setting up specialist support for care leavers.

Amazon and charity Barnardo’s have launched a partnership to support 500 vulnerable young people into work.

The JOBS (Journey of Becoming Successful) programme has seen 83 per cent of participants who finish the course secure full-time work or a return to education.

Amazon funds ten weeks of pre-employment training for candidates, while the course also focuses on mental and physical health.

Amazon’s UK country manager John Boumphrey said: “This initiative is unique in the level of support it provides and I am imm­ensely proud of the young people themselves and of our team.”

Autumn McElroy is one of the programme’s first graduates.

The 18-year-old is now an operations associate at the firm’s centre in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.