50 Belfast Residents Celebrate Employment Academy Success

Belfast City Council has hosted a celebration event for more than 50 local residents' who recently completed Employment Academies in the varied sectors of Construction, Fibre, Hospitality and Leisure, Transport and Working at Sea.

Provided by the Council, and part funded by the Department for Communities through the Belfast Labour Market Partnership, these free academies provide intensive training and qualifications, aligned to employer recruitment needs.

Over the last year, 297 participants completed training and qualifications, and to date, 97 have secured employment. A further 153 people are currently completing training and already have job interviews lined up.

Speaking at the celebrations, Belfast Lord Mayor Councillor Ryan Murphy said: "We're really pleased with the positive impacts our range of Employment Academies are delivering. The courses are tailored to local employer needs, so people signing up know they'll not only receive relevant, practical, and transferable skills, they'll be guaranteed an interview and have support from us in preparing for it. We also make sure that participants have six months aftercare support to ensure they're moving into long term, sustained and well-paid roles.

"I'd like to congratulate all our Employment Academy participants on their achievements, and on the dedication and enthusiasm they've shown. We made a commitment in the Belfast Agenda to help residents reach their full potential and to empower those furthest removed from the labour market to progress into employment. We also want to support business growth and help Belfast employers with current recruitment challenges.

"Our Employment Academies are helping us to achieve those objectives – and they're only going to become more important as we see more high value employment opportunities created by new investment in our city, including the Belfast Region City Deal. We need to connect people living here to those opportunities and provide the high-quality talent pipeline that investors and local businesses expect."

Belfast City Council, in collaboration with Learning and Work Institute's New Futures programme, has also recently recruited 24 people to complete two Technology Employment Academies in Product Management and Cyber Security. These four-month academies offer an alternative pathway into employment in a high growth sector where there is increasingly high demand for talent. In 2022, 70% of Tech Employment Academy participants moved into immediate employment, with all participants remaining in role six months later.

For more information, and to register for a Belfast Employment Academy, go to www.belfastcity.gov.uk/employmentacademies