GSK announces new apprentice and graduate engineering opportunities in the UK during Tomorrow’s Engineers Week

Issued: London UK

GSK today announced the recruitment of 140 new apprentices over the next two years in the UK – of which a third will be in engineering. This represents a 27% increase in the company’s annual intake of apprentices since 2012/13.

GSK also announced plans to increase the number of engineering graduate trainees by 26 in Britain – an increase of 25% since 2012/13.

The announcements reflect the company’s business needs and coincide with Tomorrow’s Engineers Week, a UK wide collaboration led by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) with industry partners to encourage more young people to pursue careers in engineering.

As part of GSK’s broader commitment to help increase employment opportunities for young people in the UK, the company last week confirmed its participation in the Apprentice Trailblazers scheme, a Government initiative which aims to improve the standards of apprenticeships in the UK.As part of this scheme, GSK will work with industry partners to lead the design of new apprenticeship standards and qualifications which are more closely aligned to the specific requirements of different industry sectors.

Roger Connor, President, Global Manufacturing and Supply, GSK said: “Engineers are critical to the success of GSK– they ensure we can progress from pioneering science in our laboratories to making innovative, high quality products on an industrial scale in our state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities.

“We need to ensure we keep pace as manufacturing technologies evolve - encouraging the next generation of engineers is vital to help us do that.”

Investing in the training and development of GSK’s UK based engineering workforce is critical to future business success. The graduate positions are offered within a wide range of engineering career specialities from automation engineering, through to chemical, electrical, mechanical, material science and packaging engineering.

All of the engineering apprenticeships offered by GSK provide the opportunity for school or college students to work towards a university degree, dependent on their ability and ambition, offering greater choices for talented young people in the UK.

Skills Minister Matthew Hancock said: "Going to university or taking and an apprenticeship is becoming the new norm for getting access to a rewarding career in high tech industries for companies like GSK.

"It is good to see that the company is making this announcement during Tomorrow's Engineers Week, which has been set up to inspire young people, particularly young girls, to think seriously about a life in engineering."

These initiatives build on the wide range of entry points that the company already offers to bring more young people into employment with GSK. In the last two years GSK has also:

·         more than doubled the number of all apprenticeship opportunities from 25 to 58

·         increased by over 45% the number of graduates recruited in the UK from 40 to 59

·         grown its intake of undergraduate students on paid internships by almost  20% from 156 to 186

·         more than doubled the fast track opportunities available to graduates with MBAs and PhDs from 5 to 11, and increased by over 20% the intake of PhD research students who are paid a stipend from 57 to 69

·         increased general direct entry recruitment of 16 to 24 year olds (outside of specific training schemes) by 73% from 72 to 125

·         GSK is also one of 14 of Britain’s biggest employers working with The Prince’s Trust to provide short-term vocational training placements for long-term unemployed 18-24 year-olds

GSK continues to invest in its research and development (R&D) and manufacturing operations in the UK, which remains a key hub of its global network of facilities. In 2012, GSK invested £1.4 billion R&D in the UK and committed to invest a further £500 million over the next decade in five of its nine UK manufacturing sites, including the creation of a new biopharmaceutical plant in Ulverston, Cumbria.  Some of the investment commitments have already been fulfilled.

GSK – one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.  For further information please visit www.gsk.com.