A whopping 260 youngsters a day are starting jobs with Rishi Sunak’s ­Covid-fixing Kickstart apprenticeship scheme

A WHOPPING 260 youngsters a DAY are starting jobs with Rishi Sunak’s covid-fixing Kickstart apprenticeship scheme.

As the nation’s shops, gyms, businesses have reopened across the country, 16,500 16 – 25 year olds on Universal Credit have begun new roles in the last six weeks alone through the Treasury and DWP programme, which is designed to help get them back into the workplace.

The programme aims to help the tens of thousands who have lost their jobs over the Covid crisis, with under 35s accounting for nearly 80 per cent of those recently unemployed.

Youth unemployment has hit a five year high, with many youngsters working in the hospitality sector which has been shut for months thanks to rolling lockdowns.

Nearly 200,000 Kickstart jobs have now been created across the nation to help young Brits get back on the career ladder and gaining key skills.

Work and Pensions boss Therese Coffey will today visit a Marks & Spencer store in London to meet youths who have recently joined the firm as part of the programme.

The high street giant is taking on a total of 360 young people – with a second cohort starting in June.

She said last night: “The Kickstart scheme is playing a vital role helping our next generation of workers get onto the jobs ladder.

“Hundreds of young people are starting their Kickstart jobs every day and more vacancies are becoming available all the time.” The Kickstart scheme forms part of ministers’ plan for jobs to help the Covid-ravaged economy to recover.

To help spearhead the efforts to get Brits back into work the DWP has hired 13,500 new dedicated Work Coaches too.

And later this year the new Restart scheme will launch to help over a million people who have been out of work for more than a year.