Royal Mail and the CWU have announced that they will work together to deliver postal apprenticeships for ages 16-17. Recruitment will be in line with the principles set out in the joint statement and most likely in medium and large Delivery Offices which are able to provide the right level of coaching and learning for individuals.
Jon Cruddas MP welcomed the news: "The old Royal Mail Cadet scheme was very sought after and more often than not it meant a good quality job for life. I'm pleased to see the CWU working with Royal Mail to bring back an apprenticeship initiative helping to provide a skilled unionised workforce. This has come at a crucial time when we need to create more opportunities for young people and improve the job market as part of our economic recovery from the pandemic."
Apprentices will be recruited in each of the 20 service Delivery Leader areas to ensure they develop presence right across the UK. This will help apprentices get great experience and focused support. As part of the early careers support for Postal Apprentices, they will have regular contact every 4 weeks from their designated Learning Development Managers. These sessions will discuss the apprentices learning progress, monitored by Babington and internally via Scope suite.
Royal Mail and the CWU have explained that apprentices will have support from line managers who will meet with them weekly for the first six weeks and will also follow the trial review process. Postal apprentices will complete indoor elements of a part-time duty and an outdoor delivery walk. Workplace coaches will support apprentices and provide ongoing informal check ins.
To provide more information support, units will be asked to seek volunteers to become a "buddy" for the apprentice. The buddy will provide a friendly face, outside of the apprentice's training support, to make them feel welcome within the unit and aid with/direct any queries they might have. On completion of the programme, Apprentices will be offered a permanent contract mirroring the operational content in hours that have been performing.
Find out more here: https://jobs.royalmailgroup.com/content/Early-Careers/