Lecturers Fear Hundreds Of Job Losses

Jobs are in jeopardy in the educational sector with a protest against cutbacks planned at the Belfast Metropolitan College campus in west Belfast on Monday.

Last November, the NI Employment and Learning Minister Danny Kennedy said the college could be forced to lay off up to 168 staff, but trade unions have since said about 450 jobs could be lost across Belfast.

Ulster Unionist MLA and Executive Minister Kennedy said redundancies at the college were regrettable, but it was hoped many would be voluntary and through natural wastage with the college currently employing more than 1,000 staff.

Meanwhile, in other employment news, Northgate Managed Services is to emulate success in NI by providing new job opportunities and training to 100 school leavers in other communities where the company is based, offering them a direct route into a long-term career in IT.

With very well received schemes already running in Northern Ireland, Northgate is now said to be bucking the current economic trend for downsizing and has now extended its IT Apprenticeship Scheme in five regions across England with the support of the Skills Funding Agency.

In addition to its existing graduate schemes, Northgate is directly targeting 16-18 year olds via an 18-month on-the-job training scheme with on-going recruitment throughout 2011.

Andy Ross, Chief Executive, Northgate Managed Services, comments: "As a successful and growing IT services company we are committed to working with young people in the communities where we are based.

"Many people seem to believe that a university degree is the only route to a career within the IT sector. This isn't the case and by offering an IT Apprenticeship Scheme to school leavers, we are developing a qualified and talented workforce that will help us grow our business."

In NI, Northgate operates its local headquarters in Newtownabbey with two regional offices in Londonderry and in Dungannon.

(BMcC/GK)