"Oldham is entering a confident new chapter" - two major events to drive career opportunities in the borough

Oldham Council will unveil its five-year Employment and Skills Plan this Thursday at the Oldham Works Summit, a gathering of employers, colleges, and community groups aimed at steering local workers toward better-paid, future-proof jobs. The plan, covering 2025-2030, commits the borough to train residents for shortages in construction, green trades, digital tech, health care, and engineering while asking firms to help design the courses.

On the same day, the council's largest-ever careers fair will fill Queen Elizabeth Hall with hands-on workshops for more than 650 pupils in Years 9-11. Pupils will try brick-laying simulators, cyber-security challenges, broadcast kit, and robotics cells run by companies already hiring in Oldham. For the first time, the afternoon session is open to home-educated teenagers, NEET young people, and students with special educational needs, with the last hour reserved for anyone aged 13-18 who turns...

Council leader Mohon Ali says the twin events mark "a confident new chapter" for the town, tying school inspiration directly to the new skills plan so that courses started this year can match jobs arriving in the next five years. Employers attending include Balfour Beatty, Siemens, Oldham NHS Trust, and fast-growing local software firm Nasstar, each pledging apprenticeship or graduate slots.

The borough's CyberFirst pilot, which has already put 120 pupils through GCHQ-certified cyber courses, will expand to every secondary school from September, backed by £380k drawn from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Teachers say the fair gives them a practical lever when pupils ask why maths or science matters; firms say it saves them recruiting costs by spotting talent early.

Oldham's unemployment rate still hovers at 6.2%, double the national average, and last year 1,300 young people left school without a grade 4 in English or maths. The new plan promises extra catch-up provision, but admits it will take at least three years to measure whether today's excited teenagers actually land higher-skilled jobs locally rather than drift to Manchester.