BT GROUP PLC 
By
DC12-019
January 12, 2012
BT signs up to business compact
BT has been congratulated by Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, today as one of the leading companies in opening their doors to young people from all walks of life.
BT is named as one of the signatories to the Business Compact, the Deputy Prime Minister's flagship scheme to create fairer opportunities to getting the best jobs.
BT has a long history of supporting young people into the workplace through its apprentice and graduate programmes. We also recognise that earlier interventions are essential to capture the imagination and energy of young people, giving them practical experience of work during their formative years. This comes not only through the delivery of our Work Inspiration programme, which has provided events for over 7,000 young people, but also through the positive influence this partnership approach has on decision makers in education and Government.
• BT has worked actively with the Skills Council to create a curriculum that develops not only technical skills, but attitudinal and social capability.
• BT's many volunteering programmes enable our people to support pupils and teachers in understanding how practical applications of technology can solve business problems.
Caroline Waters, BT's director, people and policy, said: "Business Compact is the perfect vehicle for BT to further develop the work we have been leading for many years in making the work place more accessible to a wider range of young people and to develop the technical specialists, the business leaders, the innovators and the change agents of the future. I thank the many BT people who in their 'days jobs' and as volunteers have influenced this agenda and look forward to this new partnership encouraging others to become involved across BT and across industry."
Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister, said: "This is an important step towards a society where it's what you know, not who you know, that counts. Working with the Coalition, the biggest hitters in Britain's business world are helping lead the way to a fairer, more open society. By opening their doors to young people from all walks of life, this marks the start of a culture shift at the heart of British business, driven by the belief that ability and drive should trump connections and privilege.
"I'd like to thank BT for signing up to the Business Compact. Today's success makes me even more ambitious. This great news is just the beginning - I will be doing everything I can to bring even more businesses on board."
More than one hundred of Britain's biggest companies and top professional groups have signed the Business Compact, committing them to making entry into their professions fairer.
The Business Compact forms a key part of the Deputy Prime Minister's Social Mobility Strategy, launched in April 2011, which sets out the Government's determination to ensure every individual is free to achieve, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. Businesses which sign up to it must agree to:
• support communities and schools through reading and mentoring schemes or encouraging their staff go out to schools and inspire pupils about their careers.
• open opportunities to all young people by advertising their work experience places through schools, online and in other public forums, rather than just giving places to their mates.
• make access to internships open and transparent, paying interns the National Minimum Wage where they are legally entitled to it and providing financial support to ensure fair access, such as providing expenses and/or accommodation to those from less advantaged backgrounds to ensure they are not prevented from accessing opportunities by their financial circumstances
• recruit fairly and without discrimination, ensuring that their recruitment processes don't allow candidates to be inadvertently screened out because they went to the wrong school or come from a different ethnic group (including through using name-blank and school-blank applications where appropriate).
BT signs up to business compact
BT has been congratulated by Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, today as one of the leading companies in opening their doors to young people from all walks of life.
BT is named as one of the signatories to the Business Compact, the Deputy Prime Minister's flagship scheme to create fairer opportunities to getting the best jobs.
BT has a long history of supporting young people into the workplace through its apprentice and graduate programmes. We also recognise that earlier interventions are essential to capture the imagination and energy of young people, giving them practical experience of work during their formative years. This comes not only through the delivery of our Work Inspiration programme, which has provided events for over 7,000 young people, but also through the positive influence this partnership approach has on decision makers in education and Government.
• BT has worked actively with the Skills Council to create a curriculum that develops not only technical skills, but attitudinal and social capability.
• BT's many volunteering programmes enable our people to support pupils and teachers in understanding how practical applications of technology can solve business problems.
Caroline Waters, BT's director, people and policy, said: "Business Compact is the perfect vehicle for BT to further develop the work we have been leading for many years in making the work place more accessible to a wider range of young people and to develop the technical specialists, the business leaders, the innovators and the change agents of the future. I thank the many BT people who in their 'days jobs' and as volunteers have influenced this agenda and look forward to this new partnership encouraging others to become involved across BT and across industry."
Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister, said: "This is an important step towards a society where it's what you know, not who you know, that counts. Working with the Coalition, the biggest hitters in Britain's business world are helping lead the way to a fairer, more open society. By opening their doors to young people from all walks of life, this marks the start of a culture shift at the heart of British business, driven by the belief that ability and drive should trump connections and privilege.
"I'd like to thank BT for signing up to the Business Compact. Today's success makes me even more ambitious. This great news is just the beginning - I will be doing everything I can to bring even more businesses on board."
More than one hundred of Britain's biggest companies and top professional groups have signed the Business Compact, committing them to making entry into their professions fairer.
The Business Compact forms a key part of the Deputy Prime Minister's Social Mobility Strategy, launched in April 2011, which sets out the Government's determination to ensure every individual is free to achieve, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. Businesses which sign up to it must agree to:
• support communities and schools through reading and mentoring schemes or encouraging their staff go out to schools and inspire pupils about their careers.
• open opportunities to all young people by advertising their work experience places through schools, online and in other public forums, rather than just giving places to their mates.
• make access to internships open and transparent, paying interns the National Minimum Wage where they are legally entitled to it and providing financial support to ensure fair access, such as providing expenses and/or accommodation to those from less advantaged backgrounds to ensure they are not prevented from accessing opportunities by their financial circumstances
• recruit fairly and without discrimination, ensuring that their recruitment processes don't allow candidates to be inadvertently screened out because they went to the wrong school or come from a different ethnic group (including through using name-blank and school-blank applications where appropriate).
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