By Daniel Hunter
Research revealed this week at IGD’s Skills Summit suggests the food and grocery industry is not a career of choice for most people starting out in the world of work. But once they join, they often stay.
IGD surveyed the members of its Leading Edge personal development network and found that 96% would recommend a career in the industry to young people.
The research was revealed in a speech by IGD chief executive, Joanne Denney-Finch, encouraging delegates to support Feeding Britain’s Future — Skills for Work Month in September. The project brings the food and grocery industry together to deliver pre-employment training for young unemployed people.
“We may not always be the first option for many young people thinking about a career, but we have a huge amount to offer and people recognise this when they step through our doors," Joanne said.
"We employ over 3.7 million people, we offer a massively diverse range of jobs and people can genuinely progress from the shop or factory floor to the top floor.
“Feeding Britain’s Future not only delivers valuable training for unemployed 16-24-year-olds, in areas like CV writing and interview skills, but it is also good for our industry as it helps us attract the talent we need to continue delivering for our customers.
“When we look back on Feeding Britain’s Future in years to come, we want to have really left our mark and made a big difference. For young people we’re helping them understand the rules of the game, building confidence to compete in the jobs market.
"For our own people, we know they enjoy making a difference in their local communities. For the public at large we’re helping them understand what a critical and progressive industry we are, and we’re setting a blueprint for other industries to follow in tackling youth unemployment.”
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