A national programme funded by the Scottish Government, Developing the Young Workforce (DYW), has been established to invest in Scotland’s young people, helping them to get work ready and ensure employers have access to the right skills to support their growth ambitions.

Local regional employer led DYW groups have now been established across the country which will focus, at ground level, on increasing employers’ engagement with schools and colleges and encouraging them to recruit more young people into their workforce.

Steve Stewart, Director of Perthshire Chamber of Commerce and Chair of DYW Perth and Kinross (DYW P&K) group said: “Being an employer led board, we understand our local economy, its needs and its challenges. We are delighted to now have our full team in place to drive our local strategy forward and work on developing sustainable links between employers, local schools and Perth College UHI.”

“There is currently some good work going on between some of our employers (around 1000) and schools. However we still need to do more. The new team’s focus will be to simplify the connections between business and education – encouraging the rest of our 6,000 employers, large and small, to get involved to take things to the next level.”

“We have also had invaluable support from organisations supporting the local business community including the Perthshire Chamber of Commerce. These partnerships are critical as we develop our programme,” Steve added.

Fiona Reith who heads up the team DYW P&K, concluded: “Working across the region, the team is here to act as the voice of the employer.”

Get Involved – Contact the team on getinvolved@dywpk.org.uk or visit
www.dywpk.org.uk