With 120,000 people needed to work in the railway industry over the next ten years, we’ve got a job to do to attract our colleagues of tomorrow.
We’re working collaboratively with educational institutions across the UK to not only speak to younger people at both primary and secondary levels and inspire them to consider a career, but also to give them real experience of working on the frontline with training provided.
We have a duty to support charities making a difference to the communities we serve, while also creating partnerships with organisations that can provide vital support, especially from a mental wellbeing perspective.
As well as a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant and encouraging those from military backgrounds to consider a rail career, we also support the Royal British Legion. We are working with military organisations in order to drive the transition of colleague with transferable skills to use them on the railways.
From a mental wellbeing perspective, we’ve partnered with Mates in Mind to provide support to all colleagues, supply chain partners and our customers.
We recognise the power of working with the Armed Forces and using transferable skills to develop careers in the railway from ex-Armed Forces personnel.
That’s why we are signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant, and work with organisations to provide roles within an industry short of skilled colleagues.
Wherever we are working in the UK, the SWGR team works to ensure that we are providing local jobs for local people – whether that’s employing them ourselves or working with SMEs to provide them with specialist roles within the works.
As a SME ourselves, we understand the challenges businesses face and, as a company working with organisations like Network Rail with SME action plans in place, we want to support our customers to make sure those action plans are realised.
Beyond working with SMEs, we also give them access to our NSAR Gold-accredited training facility, so we’re helping to develop people while we supply them with work.
Working with under-represented groups and communities in rail is essential in improving the diversity of our workforce. It encourages better ways of thinking and working for the betterment of the industry.
SWGR works towards equality in all divisions of its business, with clear career progression paths so everyone knows what is available.
We have programmes to encourage women and those from BAME communities to consider a career in rail, both in the office and on the frontline, and set out clear development opportunities to inspire them to consider a career in what has been a male-dominated industry for years.
We’re working with primary schools across the UK, in every region we serve, to teach the children about railway safety, as well as giving them a little bit of insight into what we do.
Working closely with the school, SWGR uses this to fit in to the curriculum and give children some inspiration as to why they might like to work on the railways when they grow up.
For Year 6 children, we encourage them to be rail safety ambassadors, in which they speak to younger Year groups about how to be safe around railway lines – helping them to improve their presentation skills ahead of secondary school.
THE NATION’S INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT SERVICES PROVIDER – SUPPORTING BUSINESSES & PROJECTS ACROSS BRITAIN’S RAILWAY FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS
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