Heriot-Watt University are now offering three Graduate Apprenticeships to the Orkney business community, starting in January 2021.
 
Fully funded by Skills Development Scotland, Graduate Apprenticeships are a work-based qualification that are suitable for existing or new employees.  Like a full-time degree, the Graduate Apprenticeship takes four years to complete, with employees spending approximately 80% of their time working, and 20% of their time studying.

​Young people in Orkney are being asked for their thoughts on how local employment support agencies can best help them move into employment, training or further education.
 
The Youth Employment Survey has been developed to better understand how COVID-19 has impacted young people and their options regarding education, training and employment, as well as better understand their knowledge of the support services that currently exist in Orkney.
 
The survey was developed in partnership by Job Centre Plus, Skills Development Scotland, Developing the Young Workforce Orkney, the OIC’s Community Learning and Development and the Youth Forum.  It is open to all young people aged between 16-24 years, whether they are still in education, an apprenticeship, working or currently unemployed.
 
The Youth Employment Survey is now live and can be accessed here and will be open until Friday 23 October 2020.

Copies in word can be requested by emailing orkneydyw@uhi.ac.uk

We are all aware of the economic impact of coronavirus and that some businesses have either made or are having to consider making redundancies. This is not an easy process for the employer or the employee, but help is at hand to provide support.

The local PACE partnership offers a free, confidential redundancy support service for businesses of any size.  The service is free and employers can use it to help them and their staff navigate redundancy.

It is managed by Skills Development Scotland, and Claire Sim from the Kirkwall team has made the below video explaining more about PACE and the support they can offer Orkney businesses.  You can also read more here.

If you would like to learn more about PACE, contact Claire on claire.sim@sds.co.uk or call (01856) 602 815.

The Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, Fiona Hyslop MSP, has announced further details on how the Youth Guarantee will give young people the chance to succeed despite the economic impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Today's (Wednesday 2 September) announcement has confirmed additional investment for Developing the Young Workforce Regional Groups to support the delivery of the Youth Guarantee including strengthening our offer in the senior phase and ensuring those furthest from the labour market can access the appropriate support.

This week’s Sector Spotlight is focusing on the Construction Industry.  Today, we hear from Jacqueline Argo, who is the Apprenticeships Officer for the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).

Jacqueline started her career as an Office Junior before becoming an Accounts Assistant.  She then became Office Manager for a construction company, and moved into her current role 12 years ago.

This week’s Sector Spotlight is on the Construction Industry.  Today we hear from Andrew Harvey, who is an Apprentice Wood Machinist with R Clouston Ltd.

​Andrew began his apprenticeship straight from school and is currently in his second year.

This week’s Sector Spotlight is focusing on the Construction Industry.  Today, we hear from Scott Barnett who is a Site Manager at Casey Construction Ltd.
 
Scott has worked at Casey Construction since 2004, prior to that he was the Assistant Manager at Jewson’s having started his career there as an Estimator.

​In our last Sector Spotlight focusing on careers in Financial Services we hear from Ryan Allan, who is an Associate Director with Scholes Chartered Accountants.
 
Ryan has always had an aptitude for numbers and started studying accountancy with finance at University.  However, when a trainee position came up at Scholes at the end of his second year, he decided to apply and left University to take on the role.  He has since completed his professional qualifications alongside working with the company.

Our second Sector Spotlight on the Financial Services features Kevin Hancock, who is the Senior Vice President of Marsh Commercial, an Insurance Brokers based in Kirkwall.
 
After school, Kevin went to University in Glasgow and after graduating began working for Royal Insurance.  He then returned to Orkney to work for a local insurance broker which was bought over by Clark Thomson Insurance, at which point Kevin was made Branch Manager.  He was promoted to his current role and given responsibility for all the offices in the Highlands and Islands.  Marsh Commercial bought Clark Thomson Insurance in May 2018.

​In our second week of Sector Spotlight features, we are focusing on careers in Financial Services.  Today we hear from Lois Canning, who is a Personal Banker with the Royal Bank of Scotland.  As part of her role, Lois travels to the outer isles to provide banking services to those communities and is known as the 'Flying Banker'.

​Lois has worked in financial services since she left school, working in a variety of roles and undertaking on-the-job training to develop her skills and progress in her career.

​The 'No Wrong Path' campaign was started by Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Glasgow in 2017.  The campaign runs on the day the Scottish exam results are released and aims to highlight that many people in interesting jobs didn't necessarily take a straight, obvious or traditional path to get there.

In the last of this week’s Sector Spotlight on the Energy Industry we hear from Stewart Esslemont, who is a Project Engineer with National Oilwell Varco (NOV) Wellstream Processing on Flotta.
 
After leaving school, Stewart originally started on the Clyde Marine Apprenticeship scheme to become a Mechanical Engineer.  He ultimately decided that was not the career choice for him, so returned to Orkney where he undertook various roles before becoming a Project Technician for Opus Plus Ltd (now NOV Wellstream Processing) eight years ago.  He was promoted into his current role four years ago.

In our next Sector Spotlight on the Energy Industry we hear from Craig Smith, who is a Senior Health and Safety and Environmental Advisor with Repsol Sinopec Resources UK.
 
Following university, Craig returned to Orkney to start his working life with an environmental consultancy in Stromness before moving to SEPA where he worked for over 15 years.  Alongside his role with SEPA he also volunteered as a retained firefighter with Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.  Craig then took up a post as an environmental consultant on a cruise liner which sailed in Australia, New Zealand and Alaska.  He moved into his current role a year ago and is based on Flotta.

Continuing our Sector Spotlight on the Energy Industry, today we hear from Erica Mathers, who is the Marketing Officer for EMEC (European Marine Energy Centre).
 
After leaving school, Erica undertook a degree in Rural Business Management with Agriculture at SRUC in Aberdeen.  Following that, she worked as an Agricultural Consultant in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire before returning to Orkney three years ago to undertake her current role.

​This week’s Sector Spotlight is focusing on the Energy Industry.  Today, we hear from Siobhan Peace, who is a Study Director with National Oilwell Varco Wellstream Processing (NOV) on Flotta.
 
After starting a degree in Architecture, Siobhan realised that wasn’t the correct career path for her so switched to a degree in Zoology.  She started with NOV as a Laboratory Technician and worked her way up to her current role as Study Director.

Our Sector Spotlight campaign returns for the summer and we begin by focusing on the Energy Industry.  Today, we hear from John Corsie, who is a Production Technician with Repsol Sinopec Resources UK.
 
After leaving school, John undertook and completed a Modern Apprenticeship in Refrigeration, Air Conditions and Heat Pump systems with local business Steven R Paterson.  He then felt ready for a career change and was successful in applying for the OPITO Modern Apprenticeship Scheme, securing one of four spaces available on Flotta.  Following the completion of his apprenticeship, he was offered a full-time position with Respol Sinopec Resources UK on Flotta.

'A programme of activities to support young people who have left school this summer has been launched and local people are invited to take part.
 
The Summer Leavers' Programme has been created by Developing the Young Workforce (DYW), the Scottish Government’s Youth Employment Strategy.  DYW is made up of 21 employer-led regional groups, of which DYW Orkney is one.

This week, DYW groups across Scotland are taking part in the Key Worker campaign in order to highlight some of the key jobs that are being undertaken during the current COVID-19 outbreak.
 
Leah Smedley is an HR Advisor for the Scottish Ambulance Service, where she has worked for just under four years.  She is based in Inverness, but her role covers the Highlands and Islands region, which includes Orkney.  Here, she tells us a bit about her role.

This week, DYW groups across Scotland are taking part in the Key Worker campaign in order to highlight some of the key jobs that are being undertaken during the current COVID-19 outbreak.
 
Karen McLean has been a Paramedic with the Scottish Ambulance Service for over five years.  Here, she tells us a bit about her role.

This week, DYW groups across Scotland are taking part in the Key Worker campaign in order to highlight some of the key jobs that are being undertaken during the current COVID-19 outbreak.
 
Dougie Campbell is a Station Commander for the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service and he is based in Kirkwall.  He has worked for Scottish Fire & Rescue Service for over 20 years and here he tells us a bit about his current role.

Developing the Young Workforce Orkney are supporting the Key Worker Campaign during the first week of June, and we want young people to get involved in the campaign.

​The latest issue of our Employer’s Newsletter has been published.
 
As we have all had to make huge adjustments to our personal and professional lives over the past couple of months, this issue includes some links to various organisations who can provide help and support to businesses and individuals.
 
We also have a request for businesses to complete the DYW Business Pulse Survey, to help us shape how we deliver the work of DYW going forward, ensuring young people continue to be supported in moving into the world of work.
 
There is also information about a webinar to support employers in mentoring any young people they employ or are supporting through an apprenticeship.
 
You can read the latest issue at the link below.

​An online game which has been designed to help close the skills gap in the engineering sector has been launched and is now available to play.
 
Enginuity and the Prince’s Trust have created Skills Miner, an online game that can identify people who have what it takes to power the nation’s economic recovery when the lockdown is lifted.

The 21 Regional DYW groups across Scotland have released a survey to businesses, seeking their insight on how we can continue the work of DYW in schools and colleges.