Alstom to take on 36 new apprentices, taking number employed to over 100

To mark National Apprenticeship Week (March 11-15), international engineering firm Alstom has announced it is to take on 36 new apprentices in the UK this year, taking its apprenticeship levels to over 100.

In addition, the company is taking on 19 new graduates, with the newcomers split between the companys core sectors of Grid, Power and Transport, and based at some of Alstoms key locations around the UK as they undertake training and gain hands-on experience.

Steve Burgin, Alstom UK President, said: Its extremely important to us to not only fill the vacancies that we have at Alstom but also to develop the next generation of the UKs engineers.

I think everyone within industry and manufacturing recognises just how important both apprenticeships and graduates are, we really do view them as vitally important.

At Alstom were now looking to boost the numbers of young engineers receiving a rounded experience so early in their careers, while also supporting initiatives in local schools to encourage young people to consider engineering as a career.

There seems to be a myth that the UK doesnt do engineering any more but that simply isnt true and todays news proves that.

Steve Burgin himself joined Alstom as an apprentice, as did a number of the senior management team, with the company usually converting the apprenticeships to full time positions.

The Transport sector will take on a total of 10 apprentices and four graduates across Alstoms West Coast Main Line, London Underground and tram activities. There will be 14 new apprentices at the companys Grid activities in Stafford, together with 10 graduates, and 12 apprentices and five graduates will join the Power sector activities, largely based in Rugby.

In total, Alstom will have 55 apprentices in its Power sector, 42 in Grid and 11 in Transport for 2013, with around 60 of those positions based in Stafford.

Alstom offers three or four year apprenticeships, with the emphasis in the first period being on building knowledge at local colleges, with the final portion being more about building competence in a workplace environment.

The company offers a number of different apprentices such as mechanical, electrical, welding and project management across all of the sectors that it operates in.

To find out more about apprenticeships at Alstom go to the Alstom UK Apprenticeship Academy
, with graduates able to find out more via Alstom's UK Graduate Development Programme.