The Edinburgh- and Glasgow-based group has signed up to Movement to Work, a voluntary collaboration of UK employers committed to tackling youth unemployment through provision of vocational training and work experience opportunities.
Brightwork will now engage with its wide and diverse client base to encourage them to participate in the scheme, with the eventual aim of filling vacancies amounting to 1% of the UK workforce.
Shan Saba, Business Development Director at Brightwork, said: "The spectre of youth unemployment hangs across Europe at the moment and the UK is at the forefront of bringing these young people into productive and fulfilling work.
"Brightwork's business is finding the right people for the right places and we will be encouraging our supply chain to seriously consider Movement to Work as a mutually beneficial mechanism which can transform lives.
"As a group committed to corporate social responsibility, we are very concerned that so many youngsters are trapped in the 'No experience, no job; no job no experience' cycle, and fear they are on the scrapheap before their lives have really begun."
Issues highlighted by the Brightwork Group, which directly employs 70 staff and has clients such as Diageo, who have supported Movement to Work since its inception include the facts that:
- 764,000 young people are not in education employment or training;
- More than 200,000 in the UK have been unemployed for more than a year;
- Youth unemployment could cost the UK an estimated £28 billion over the next decade.
As important, said Mr Saba, were the often devastating personal and social consequences for unemployed young people and their families. He pointed out that:
- Almost half feel "down" or depressed;
- 43% often feel isolated;
- 46% avoid meeting new people;
- 39% struggle to make eye contact.
He said: "By committing to Movement to Work, employers can demonstrate their collective impact on youth unemployment and show that they are taking responsibility for addressing the skills gap."
Derek May, Brightwork Group Chief Executive, said: "Movement to Work has the potential to have a real impact on one of the most pressing problems of our times and the Brightwork Group is committed to helping it achieve its worthwhile aims."
The Brightwork Group was established by recruitment experts Charles Turner and Anthony Knight in 2006. Since then it has established itself in drinks and industrial recruiting, facilities, sales and marketing, construction and property, contact centres, food and drink, office and finance and health and social care.
It has also built up a thriving specialist recruitment arm, BWSR, focusing on the professional, technical and managerial sectors. Its Quality Link Recruitment (QLR) division, the respected Scottish staffing and event management service, supplies the catering and hospitality sectors.