TikTok has launched a programme to help young people find work in the creative and digital industries as part of a scheme to tackle youth unemployment and the digital skills gap.
TikTok has launched a programme to help young people find work in the creative and digital industries as part of a scheme to tackle youth unemployment and the digital skills gap.
The social media platform is working with London-based social business charity Catch22 on the multi-million-pound programme, which aims to engage with 2,500 people by the end of 2024.
The scheme aims to target young people aged between 16 and 24 who are currently not in education, employment or training and will give them access to up to four weeks of an employability course.
Young adults taking part in the scheme will also get access to a career coach, virtual work experience, mentoring, mental health support and access to a bursary.
TikTok also hopes the programme will encourage marginalised and vulnerable people to learn creative digital skills and use them to support their local businesses and creative industries and bring digital skills into local hubs.
Rich Waterworth, TikTok UK’s general manager, said that given the video-sharing platform’s general goal to encourage creativity, the new scheme was an “obvious step”.
“At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. Creativity doesn’t just happen. It needs to be encouraged, nurtured and given space,” Waterworth said, “but thousands of younger people don’t have the opportunity or skills to be creative and there is inequality of access to creative and cultural resources.”
He added that the scheme hopes to change this and that TikTok is excited about its partnership with Catch22 to bridge the gap between young people and the creative industries, “to enable creativity for all”.
Kat Dixon, director of partnerships at Catch22, said: “TikTok is a bright, visionary brand young people understand. When young people engage on digital platforms, they are flexing their creative muscles and digital skills”.
Dixon said the partnership between Catch22 and TikTok “sparks a new career conversation, helps employers find fresh talent and empowers young people to build their future”.
This news was originally published by E&T.