A COMPANY boss says he is struggling to attract young apprentices in Redditch.
The number of apprenticeships created in the borough have reached record levels, rocketing by 285 per cent to over 1,000 since 2005.
But David Lynes, from Park Farm based Unique IQ, claims when he has advertised for positions only a handful of people have applied.
Those who do often live outside of the town or are not suitable for the role which asks for GCSEs at C and above and a demonstrated love of technology.
Mr Lynes said: “We are struggling to find the quality and quantity of candidates.
“We also are noticing candidates come from outside of the area tend to apply and not local people. It tends to be Solihull, Worcester and Birmingham.
“I just don’t know why people from Redditch are not applying. I think colleges aren’t going to push apprenticeships as much because they will probably want students more focused on the syllabus.
“But there is quite a lot of push from the Government, it just hasn’t really yielded something locally for us.”
“Apprenticeships enable us to train them up and give them a chance to get on the employment ladder. You learn on the job, you build your skills up and you’re earning.”
Redditch MP Karen Lumley said the Government was committed to creating two million apprenticeships by the end of the Parliament and was keen to see vocational education progress.
But she added: “Schools could do a lot more to engage people from companies to go in and talk to students.”
Mrs Lumley also pointed to her apprenticeship fayre in the Kingfisher Shopping Centre earlier this month where there was a steady flow of young people visiting and many were put on a waiting list.
