HS2 recognised with top employer accolade

HS2 Ltd is celebrating after getting the highest possible accolade from The 5% Club for continued investment in the development of its employees.

The 5% Club brings together more than 600 employer members who are taking positive action to provide inclusive and accessible workplace training. Following an in-depth audit of its activities, HS2 was awarded Gold status for its commitment to increasing the employment and career prospects of young people and equipping the UK with a skilled workforce.

The 5% Club’s 2021 Employer Audit Scheme recognised HS2’s significant contribution to developing its employees through delivering ‘earn and learn’ schemes, including its annual apprenticeship and graduate programmes. HS2 has committed to creating 2,000 apprenticeships during the life span of the project and so far has brought aboard 650 apprentices across the programme.

Talent and development manager at HS2, Karen Davis, said:“We’re delighted to achieve the Gold Award, which recognises our year-on-year commitment to upskilling the next generation of professionals across the rail and construction sectors.

“Our investment in ‘skills for life’ is helping to plug the skills gap and creating a future talent pool that will thrive and benefit the UK economy for decades to come.”

Chief executive at The 5% Club, Mark Cameron OBE, said:  “We set out to create a scheme that recognises the efforts of all those employers who invest in their workforce through a broad range of workplace learning schemes. It is fantastic that in these challenging times HS2 Ltd has been able to commit to the Employer Audit. Their efforts and achievements are to be applauded.”

HS2 actively recruits new apprenticeS and graduates each year and will be opening the recruitment window for 12 more graduates to join the organisation next month. This will be followed by a recruitment campaign in February 2022 to recruit 25 more apprentices.

HS2 says the rail project is already supporting 20,000 jobs and independent research published earlier this year forecasts that HS2’s construction is now expected to support over 34,000 jobs. 

Image Credit: HS2

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