Celebrating World Youth Skills Day

Monday 15th July 2024 marks World Youth Skills Day where we come together to emphasise the importance of imparting the right knowledge and skills onto the next generation.

Young people are three times more likely to be unemployed than their peers and exposed to longer working hours in less skilled roles. In addition to this, young women are even more likely to be paid less, with more taking part time roles. Providing access to the right education, training and skills is vital for their success.

As an advocate in empowering the next generation, we commit to around 10% of our workforce being apprentices in a range of roles from machining, fitting to engineering technician and more.

We caught up with 2nd year apprentice, Elisa Craig, to find out why she chose an apprenticeship and what it meant for her and her career.

Elisa completed A-Levels in Engineering, Design Engineering and Construction and Business at the local UTC. Elisa then applied for an apprenticeship with Lakes College as an Engineering Technician.

Having completed several months in the apprenticeship, Elisa quickly realised that she wanted to switch to more of a CAD focus as she found this more interesting. Working with Elisa, we adapted her apprenticeship to suit. Now in her second year of a three year apprenticeship, Elisa works with our design team to create CAD drawings of all our products. Our draughtsmen and engineers check her drawings, providing mentoring and tutoring along the way before they are put into production and then exported across the globe.

At the end of her course, Elisa will gain a Level 3 qualification after which she hopes to gain full-time employment and study for a degree level qualification in her own time.

Elisa said, “After my A-Levels, I started off on a completely different apprenticeship but thanks to McMenon, I have been able to shift my qualification and focus on a skill that I found the most interesting. I would urge anyone, especially young women, to give engineering a go. There are so many different roles within this industry and you can find a pathway that suits your skills and interests. Not only have I been able to earn while I learn, I’m gaining news skills along the way and hopefully, a full-time role at the end of it.”

For more information on apprenticeships and all the options available, visit Lakes College – https://www.lcwc.ac.uk/.