Thousands of Universal Credit claimants to be sent on Google training courses

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has teamed up with Google to offer IT training programmes to thousands of jobseekers.

The partnership will see about 9,000 Universal Credit claimants referred, via their designated work coach, to a programme through which they can obtain a ‘Google Career Certificate’.

The scheme will include courses tailored to career options such as IT support, data analyst, user experience designer and project manager. 

“The courses do not require relevant experience or a degree and are recognised by industry experts and employers, including Google,” said the DWP.

The scholarship training will be supplemented by “additional tailored support” provided by work coaches, which the UK Government claims to have recently boosted with 13,500 new hires “to help spearhead efforts to get people into work” following the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “Nothing is more important than helping people get new jobs.

“That is the mission of our work coaches day in and day out, and I’m delighted they’ll be working with Google to give people the digital skills they need to do exactly that.”

Ronan Harris, Google UK and Ireland’s managing director, added: “Technology must help everyone, no matter their location, race, age or education level.

“We must harness the opportunity to upskill people across the country for the jobs of the not so distant future.

“We hope that with these new efforts and the support of our public sector partners, even more people can develop the skills to thrive and continue growing their careers through technology.”