“I left with a voice”: young people celebrate success as employment programme offers them more than a job

Part of the Welsh Government’s Young Person’s Guarantee, the JGW+ programme delivers individualised training and development and employability support to 16 to 19-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEET).

It focuses on:

• supporting young people who are NEET to gain skills, qualifications and experience to enable them to progress to employment, including apprenticeships or towards learning at a higher level
• supporting employers who take on a young person by providing a wage subsidy of up to 50 percent of the young person’s employment costs at the National Minimum Wage for the first six-months.

An independent evaluation, published last week, shows there is much to celebrate. 95% of surveyed participants who had completed the programme said their chances of finding work had increased, with 82% of the active participants surveyed agreeing their training allowance helped ease financial pressures.

What is also hugely encouraging is that in addition to this work-based support, 82% felt more satisfied with their life and 81% felt happier.

Overall, the latest data suggests 68% of those that take part achieve a positive outcome within four weeks of leaving the programme, either progressing into higher level learning, employment or into an apprenticeship.

For some, JGW+ supported them with more than a job. One respondent said:

They’ve gotten me in with CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and help to find social skills, gave me lots of confidence and I left with a voice.

One of those who secured employment after signing-up to JGW+ was Darla Wathen. The 17-year-old, from Cardiff, is now a trainee hairdresser. She said:

I wasn’t very academic at school, but I’ve always been a creative person. Back then I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my future, so I attended a few Jobs Growth Wales+ taster days to explore different career pathways. The courses on offer varied from childcare to beauty to construction and animal care, but it was hairdressing that I discovered I had a passion for.

My Jobs Growth Wales+ tutors saw my potential. Everyone treated me like an adult, and I could tell the programme wanted me to succeed.

Darla soon secured a job as a junior stylist at Henderson & Co and is thriving, Working at Henderson & Co has been amazing. I really appreciate the advice the other stylists give me, and I’ve already learnt so much in such a short space of time.

My one piece of advice for people who don’t know what they want to do when they’re at school is to talk to others about your options. I felt incredibly listened to and was lucky enough to find a career because of the training and funding provided through Jobs Growth Wales+.

Dom Jones, 18, from Buckley says he would encourage more young people to enter the world of work through the Jobs Growth Wales+ programme after it gave him the confidence and guidance to land a full-time job.

Speaking about his journey from education into work, Dom said:

They encouraged me to retake my English and Maths GCSE qualifications where I was able to raise my grades, which helped boost the skills on my CV when applying for jobs.

Now a waste operative with Deeside-based builders' merchant, Thorncliffe Building Supplies, Dom praised JGW+ for getting him to where he is now.

Joining the Jobs Growth Wales+ programme had an instant positive impact on my approach to work and my career.

If you are struggling to know what to do next, don’t give up too fast. You don’t know what future you might have ahead of you, just put the work into your passion, keep your head down, and amazing things can happen to you.

A final evaluation is underway and will be published early in 2025.

For more information on JGW+ including how young people can access the programme, search online for Jobs Growth Wales Plus.