{"id":566473,"date":"2022-07-06T09:39:28","date_gmt":"2022-07-06T09:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.capgemini.com\/gb-en\/?post_type=story&p=566473"},"modified":"2025-03-10T03:56:24","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T03:56:24","slug":"our-partnership-with-codeyourfuture","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.capgemini.com\/gb-en\/news\/inside-stories\/our-partnership-with-codeyourfuture\/","title":{"rendered":"Our partnership with CodeYourFuture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Our partnership with CodeYourFuture<\/h1><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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The need<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to the UN Refugee Agency<\/a>, there were more than 130,000 refugees living in the UK as of mid-2021. It is difficult to estimate unemployment among refugees in the UK, but in 2018 Tent<\/a> estimated that around 70% were unemployed. Limited digital skills is one barrier to employment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the UK faces a digital skills shortage. In May 2021, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills<\/a> estimated that 518,000 additional workers are needed for roles in the three highest-skilled groups in the digital sector in 2022 \u2013 equivalent to three times the number of computer science graduates the UK has produced over the past decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our response<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Capgemini is committed to ensuring that digital transformation creates an inclusive and sustainable future for all. This means opening doors to technology careers for people who are currently far from the digital skills job market, such as refugees whose studies or career journeys have been interrupted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We aim to open up digital job opportunities by collaborating with CodeYourFuture<\/a>. This UK-based non-profit supports refugees and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to become software engineers. We started collaborating in 2018, when Capgemini became CodeYourFuture\u2019s first corporate partner offering support from start to finish for its free software training programme<\/a>. In 2021, we renewed our commitment and agreed a three-year partnership<\/a> to sponsor a place on the programme for 100 trainees annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The programme offers participants web development training followed by specialist skills options in later months, including project management, quality assurance, and cloud and platform engineering. Trainees are given help to gain employment and taught the soft skills needed at work, such as presentation delivery and teamworking. Many participants have never coded before or have little experience in the technology sector. Over 70% of trainees have a refugee or asylum-seeker background and 75% are living below the poverty line, according to CodeYourFuture<\/a>[1]<\/sup><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capgemini plays an active role in supporting a CodeYourFuture community of coders ready to help one another. Our employees run sessions on what it\u2019s like to work in technology. These include immersion workdays at our offices, insight sessions on pathways into technology careers, homework clubs, and we also offer one-to-one mentoring for programme participants. More than 500 Capgemini employees have volunteered to help with these sessions, as of March 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, Capgemini sponsored 128 trainees and helped run four CodeYourFuture courses in London, Birmingham and Manchester. We also assisted classes in Glasgow with job opportunities and support from volunteers during 2021. Capgemini continues to offer CodeYourFuture insights into market demand based on what our clients are requesting, helping evolve the programme curriculum to best prepare graduates for employment. Across all CodeYourFuture trainees sponsored by Capgemini since 2018, 71% have gone onto employment or further education as of May 2022. Our partnership with CodeYourFuture won a Better Society Award<\/a> in 2022 for National Commitment to Skills and Training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of May 2022, Capgemini has employed 71 CodeYourFuture programme graduates. The partnership helps us extend employment opportunities to talented people from groups that are underrepresented in the technology sector and our business, supporting our commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace. One of our CodeYourFuture graduates, Madiha Khan<\/a>, was a finalist in the 2021 Women in Tech Excellence<\/a> awards in the Outstanding Returner category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hear from a CodeYourFuture trainee<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cEvery door seemed to be closed because of my social status, but CodeYourFuture opened one big wide door for me \u2013 and changed my life by giving me this opportunity. I am a full stack web developer now! I\u2019m more confident and have more skills. I\u2019m ready to go out there.\u201d
<\/p>\n\u2013 Davinder, who was an asylum seeker and found employment following his CodeYourFuture graduation<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Learn more<\/h3>\n\n\n\n