Startwise seeks to reach more than 1 000 youth by January

Just over 1 000 young people will be targeted during the course of the new digital training Startwise initiative.

That aim was disclosed by Director of Operations for Startwise, Celeste Foster during the launch of the Startwise Community Workshops at Parkinson Community Centre, on Friday.

She said the programme, which aims to provide well-paying remote jobs to young people, hopes to reach more than 1 000 people by the beginning of 2024.

“What we are hoping for is really to see our young people, our unemployed, our underserved communities be able to access opportunities in remote jobs, [and] they are able then to potentially look after their families. We want to be able to contact between 1 000 to 1 500 Barbadians and excite them about these opportunities. We want at least 400 Barbadians to come forward and really explore the tracks. Hopefully, the first 200 can get the opportunity to sign up for apprenticeships and specialisation training in January,” Foster said.

“Our goal is by June to have 100 people placed. Now, we don’t guarantee you a job, but we equip you, upskill you, help you, support you, through our career success coaches, to be really ready. So we take you to the door and then we give you all the tools you need to step in when you meet that employer so that you convert the opportunity to a real job.”

Over 50 young people attended the first of several workshops planned for the initiative. 

Foster expressed hope that the project will address much of the underemployment seen among young people seeking better job opportunities.

“Our target is principally at-risk youth because we have a social construct we want to maintain and we want to improve, but we also have brain drain that we have to address,” she said. “So persons who are leaving school, who are not working, or are what we call underemployed, of course we want them. If you are in a career that you can’t see a lot of progress and it fits in one of our four specialisations tracks, and you have the time to commit – because the time commitment is going to be very important – what we need from you is to come on and join our workshops.” 

(SB)