SOARING YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT Is There Any Hope?

Emdad Rahman: The latest official statistics paint a grim picture. They show that youth unemployment rose by 66,000 to 965,000 in the three months to the end of December 2010, the highest level since comparable records began in 1992.

The youth unemployment rate was 20.5%, compared with a general unemployment rate of 7.9%. Despite the horrendous headlines and alarming statistics that youth unemployment is the highest in living memory we are told there is hope!

Hope comes in many shapes and forms and this time it’s in the form of a Tower Hamlets based Training and Recruitment Company – FOX Training Academy.

I recently caught up with the company’s CEO Abdul Shukur Khalisadar, a philanthropic entrepreneur who started his career in youth and community development work some fifteen years ago.

According to Khalisadar, FOX Training Academy was formally established in 2008 with 2 staff and since then every year FOX has moved offices (three times to be precise) and now employs 16 staff due to the huge demand in their service; essentially offering training with guaranteed job Interviews in entry level positions.

The charismatic CEO was very quick to point out that the reason behind this growth and expansion of the company is due to the overwhelming demand for their service.

“Initially we were offering job interviews in security only as part of our Security Door Supervision courses; we’ve now had to extend the range of products to include entry level positions in sales, retail, administration, catering, security and cleaning”.

Khalisadar reminds me that they’ve now gone one step further in their ambitious delivery plan to include a very challenging but what he believes is an equally rewarding Youth Employment Programme (YEP).

The programme is targeted towards 16-19 year olds across London who are not in education, employment or training or those that are seeking part-time work in an entry level position.

“We believe there is a need for this service given the soaring tuition fees, compounded with high unemployment, families are struggling to support their children’s education in some cases families are forced to make the choice whether to ‘eat’ or ‘heat’ their homes, and its families in Tower Hamlets that are primarily in this predicament as we live in one the most deprived boroughs in the whole of England and Wales”.

FOX works with a range of Employers who they refer to as their Employer Partners, all of whom have signed exclusivities for FOX to manage their recruitment, thus allowing FOX to make these jobs accessible to minority ethnic and hard to reach members of society.

According to Mr Khalisadar “This unfortunate trend is set to continue given the economic downturn, however we are confident that our target of placing 1000 people into work this year can be achieved.”

He is emphasising to all those that are seeking employment, particularly young people to stop thinking about job hunting and get in touch with FOX immediately.

In conclusion, there’s no harm in giving FOX a try as their service is completely free for job search candidates.

The FOX Recruitment Team can be contacted on 0203 142 5164.