Boost apprenticeships and we can boost jobs, says Euan Blair

Rachael Burford
·1 min read
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Euan Blair has said universities are failing to prepare enough young people for work as he called for an apprenticeship revolution to help lift London’s jobs market out of the slump.

The eldest son of former prime minister Tony Blair is the CEO of Multiverse, a company which offers apprenticeship alternatives to university, mainly in the tech and data industries.

Multiverse has doubled in size and works with companies including Google, Facebook, Bloomberg, Depop and Morgan Stanley.

Talking to business editor Jim Armitage as part of the Standard’s London Rising online events, he said the pandemic had sped up the digital transformation and the UK is going to have to “embark on massive reskilling”, because there are “a lot of people who if they cannot retrain will not still have a job in 10 years”.

“Apprenticeships are a core part of the solution,” he said.

“Employers have been struggling to find people with the skills they need. Employers say about a fifth of the graduates they meet don’t have any of the skills they need.”

As prime minister in 1999, Tony Blair pledged that 50 per cent of young adults should attend university. But Mr Blair, 37, said his father’s vow had not delivered on social mobility. He added: “For what it’s worth my dad’s hugely supportive of apprenticeships.”

Watch the interview and join the Evening Standard’s London Rising online events series as we explore the challenges and opportunities ahead at londonrising.standard.co.uk #LondonRising

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