GM Careers Hub


What is the GM Careers Hub?

The GM Careers Hub is a network of over 220 secondary schools and colleges across Greater Manchester. This includes alternative provision and SEND schools (schools for young people with special education needs and disabilities). In total, around 200,000 young people aged 11 to 19 are supported by the GM Careers Hub.

The Hub is managed by the Bridge GM team, part of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) Education, Work and Skills Directorate. The team works in strategic partnership with the Careers and Enterprise Company.

The GM Careers Hub supports the development and delivery of schools’ and colleges’ careers education programmes.

Bridge’s aim is to create a link between schools and employers that allows economic benefits to be gained for both young people and the employers within Greater Manchester. Bridge is changing the future landscape of education and improving the economic benefits for young people and employers alike through their positive connections in the local economy.

Greater Manchester Combined Authority is striving to reduce the inequalities of opportunities experienced by our young people so that they can be inspired, motivated and better prepared to tap into the future opportunities of Greater Manchester’s labour market.

Find out more on the Bridge GM website (opens in a new window).

How can businesses and industry help?

The Bridge GM team are always looking for volunteers from the world of work to support careers education in schools and colleges.

We need people willing to engage young people with their work and their career journey.

For instance, this could be by:

  1. Dedicating around 2-hours a month to become a volunteer Enterprise Adviser, to work at a strategic level to support careers staff at a school or college.

  2. Connecting with young people in your local community through inspiration activities.

    This could be through, but not limited to, education-business projects, careers talks, speed networking, or offering experiences of your workplace; either face-to-face or virtually. Inspiration activities can include a specific focus, such as challenging misconceptions about your industry, or raising awareness of apprenticeship and traineeship opportunities in your organisation.

  3. Providing digital content for GMACS.

    The Greater Manchester Apprenticeship and Careers Service (GMACS) is a Mayoral supported platform, a ‘one-stop-shop' of information and tools to support Greater Manchester’s young people in their plans for their future. We are looking to build our resource bank for young people, schools, and colleges. This is an opportunity to provide videos, insights, challenges, and opportunities to highlight your organisation to young people across Greater Manchester.

  4. Work shadowing

    We’re encouraging employers across Greater Manchester to offer work shadowing opportunities for young people in their local area.

    Our aim is to deliver 1,000 work shadowing opportunities to young people across the region (in school years 7-14) in a variety of business environments, to help them to learn about different roles and careers and to gain first-hand industry experience.

    This is an excellent opportunity for employers to meet their future workforces and give young people a clear line of sight into the world of work.

Whilst we cannot enforce access into schools or colleges, we will do our best to match you to appropriate institutions where aims and objectives align, and to broker introductions.

The aims of the GM Careers Hub

The GM Careers Hub exists to:

  • Enable every young person to explore the different options and career paths available to them, to help them make informed decisions about their future.
  • Remove barriers and tackle disadvantage, as well as raise the aspirations and motivation of young people.
  • Reduce the number of young people who become NEET (not in education, employment, or training).
  • Support employers’ talent pipelines, address skills gaps, and boost recruitment; particularly in growth sectors.

We are particularly committed to:

  • Supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as those with additional needs.
  • Promoting technical and vocational pathways and ensuring these are given parity with academic routes.

How the GM Careers Hub operates

The GM Careers Hub delivers its aims by:

  • Bringing together school and college staff to share best practice and work on shared priorities – creating communities of practice where approaches and thinking constantly evolve.
  • Connecting local employers with schools and colleges, to foster effective partnerships and provide high-quality future talent insights.
  • Working strategically with a range of stakeholders to align with local education, work and skills priorities through strong partnerships.
  • Demonstrating the impact of effective careers education on the career readiness, education, and employment outcomes of young people.
  • Deliver GM-wide programmes of engagement for young people, such as the GMACS website, and the ‘Meet Your Future’ programme of employer engagement sessions.

To get involved

Please email the Bridge GM team at bridge@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk

We endeavour to respond to all enquiries within 10 working days.