BARCLAYS has started a traineeship programme pledging to provide 300,000 training hours to young people not in education, employment or training.

Developed as part of the bank's commitment to tacking youth unemployment and helping one million young people out of work, the Barclays traineeships will provide work based learning, skills tutoring combined with a placement at a Barclays branch, contact or operations centre.

Of the 1,200 traineeships offered, it is hoped 600 candidates will then progress to interview for Barclays apprenticeships and the opportunity to secure permanent employment, meanwhile supporting the remaining candidates to find further opportunities.

Ashok Vaswani, Chief Executive of Barclays Retail and Business Banking said: “We are the first financial services organisation to offer traineeships and commit to provide nearly half a million training hours to those young people not in education, employment or training.

"We hope that more companies will follow suit so that together we bring about a lasting transformation in the employment opportunities and outlook of the next generation.”