Serco supports the community

As well as supporting workforces to plug skills gaps and encouraging individuals to harness professional development, Greater Manchester’s Skills for Growth programme is committed to leaving a lasting legacy by giving back to the community.

Serco, a long-standing Skills for Growth training provider, delivers the Digital Careers Upskill Programme (DCUP) on behalf of GMCA, offering fully-funded training to people across the city-region to either upskill or re-skill in digital roles.

In line with its commitment to supporting the local community, the Serco team has recently met with school children and job centres to offer advice, inspire the next generation and promote digital skills and careers.

The team has forged strong links with work coaches and employability advisers at job centres to promote adult learning amongst job seekers so they can see how essential digital skills are in the modern workplace and how continuous learning can lead to job security, career progression, higher earning potential and job satisfaction.

This engagement has led to 25 referrals onto Serco's DCUP course.

Serco also visited a number of schools to educate and inspire young people seeking career ideas about the variety of digital skills that are in demand, from digital marketing to coding to 3D design and print. There was a particular focus on attracting female students to digital skills and careers as women are currently under-represented in digital roles.

Furthermore, the team sought out a number of charities and employability forums centred on workers aged 50+, self-employed people and also worked with Greater Manchester Poverty Action in order to reach people from under-represented groups, ensuring they have access to the opportunities available to help them and reach their career aspirations.

Elaine Brady, the DCUP Contract Manager from Serco said: “By going into the heart of communities of Greater Manchester, we have been able to reach and engage with people who may not otherwise have considered learning digital skills or even be aware of the range of opportunities and fully-funded support available through the Skills for Growth programme. Our team has spent a lot of time building relationships with key partners including job centres, charities and employers as our programme is available to adults currently in work, however, by engaging with schools, we can reiterate the importance of digital skills to the next generation and encourage them to make decisions as they navigate their education and entrance into the working world with the digital space in mind.”

For more information about what learning opportunities are available across Greater Manchester, please visit our Work and Skills webpages (internal web page).