9:18 am, August 16, 2013
A TWO-YEAR apprenticeship at a luxury car dealership failed to attract a single applicant.
According to the Mail Online, one month after the sales job at the Merecedes-Benz showroom in Newbury, Berkshire, was advertised, not one person applied for the position.
This was despite it being listed on the National Apprenticeship website and in various job and community centres.
The job was offering a wage of £15,000-a-year along with sales commission and a bonus on completion of the qualification. It would also give the successful applicant the first step onto the ladder working with prestige national motor retailer, Sytner, which runs the Newbury showroom.
The apprenticeship required applicants to be aged between 18-23 with A-C GCSE grades in Maths and English and the ideal applicant also needed an A-Level qualification and a valid UK driving licence.
The recruitment director for Remit, which was offering the apprenticeship, told the Mail Online: ‘We are a bit bewildered as to why we are not getting applicants for this position in Newbury.
‘There will be a lot of young people in Newbury thinking about their future over the next couple of weeks. In other parts of the country these apprenticeships attract large numbers.’
The Mail Online reported that youth unemployment among 16-24 year olds rose by 15,000 to reach 973,000. Meanwhile, figures for the number of people out of work for more than two years rose by 10,000 to 474,000, the highest since 1997.
A spokesman from Sytner added: ‘We were bewildered – we thought there would be a stampede but not one young person has come forward to apply.’
