AM Wants Local Employers to GO Wales and GO Local

Wrexham's Assembly Member, Lesley Griffiths, is calling on employers in Wrexham and North East Wales, to get involved in a Government backed scheme that is designed to bring together aspirant students and ambitious local companies.

The AM is urging local firms to find out more about an exciting new service launched earlier this year, called Graduate Opportunities Wales, or GO Wales, for short.

The programme encourages businesses and graduates and students in higher education in Wales, to get the most out of working together. The scheme helps prepare students and graduates for work and their future career.

However, the scheme also aims to contribute significantly to the economic development of Wales by enabling businesses to access the skills they need to grow and succeed.

GO Wales is managed by Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) and delivered in partnership by University Careers Services. The programme is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Lesley Griffiths AM is now calling on more Wrexham and North East Wales employers to get involved in GO Wales and take advantage of the benefits the programme can deliver for their respective companies.

Four ways in which employers can directly benefit from involvement in the GO Wales programme are:

• GO Wales Jobs is the only free website in Wales dedicated to graduate recruitment. Businesses and other organisations in Wales can advertise an unlimited number of vacancies via the online vacancy advertising service.
• GO Wales' Graduate Training and Development Fund offers financial support for training and development of graduate level staff in Welsh SMEs. Companies may be able to access up to £1,500 per person to up-skill their business.
• GO Wales Work Placements give companies the opportunity to attract the best students and graduates to their business. If a skilled individual is employed to work on a short term project, the company will receive a subsidy towards the salary costs.
• GO Wales Work Tasters are extremely flexible and designed to provide students in higher education and new graduates with a 'taste' of a particular career or working environment. They cost nothing as the student works free to gain an insight into a career or business sector.

In urging local employers to get involved, Lesley Griffiths AM said:

"Since its launch at the start of this year, GO Wales has quickly gained a reputation for delivering on the needs of both students and business. However, I want to see more local companies from Wrexham and North East Wales become involved in the programme and discover the very real benefits that can be brought to their particular field of business.

"Even during the current global economic downturn, companies understand the importance of bringing new skills into their organisation, to help develop new ideas to help them prepare for the upturn and new growth in the future. GO Wales can help such companies find those new skills locally.

"To find out more about the programme, I would urge local employers to either visit the GO Wales website at www.gowales.co.uk or contact the Careers Centre at Glyndŵr University on 01978 293245."