Tharsus Group pilots a course into employment: Engineering firm teams up with boat‐building charity to kick‐start careers of jobless

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe how UK engineering firm Tharsus Group teamed up with the Blyth Tall Ship Project – which aims to inspire hard‐to‐reach people in the deprived areas of Blyth to pursue education, training or employment in the expanding engineering and offshore sectors – to provide an engineering‐skills course to kick‐start the careers of unemployed people.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explains the background to the course and the success it is achieving. It also charts the evolution of the Blyth Tall Ship Project.

Findings

The paper reveals how the course – which ran for ten days over a three‐week period – proved to be an innovative way for Tharsus to fill an engineering‐skills gap at the same time as providing experience and career opportunities for those seeking work.

Practical implications

The paper explains that Tharsus funded in‐house training for candidates who completed the course, enabling them to develop their skills still further. The firm subsequently offered three contenders a work placement, with the potential to lead to an apprenticeship.

Social implications

The paper describes a highly practical course that, through boat‐building, is attracting hard‐to‐reach young people who are not in employment, education or training.

Originality/value

The paper shows that, through acquiring skills while building a traditional sailing boat, jobless people can gain experience and a sense of self‐worth that will help them in their search for employment.

Citation

(2013), "Tharsus Group pilots a course into employment: Engineering firm teams up with boat‐building charity to kick‐start careers of jobless", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 17-19. https://doi.org/10.1108/09670731311306779