Carillion apprentices dumped by receiver
Almost 350 apprentices at the collapsed construction giant Carillion are to lose their jobs.
The Insolvency Service says 341 apprentices have been given their notice and will stop being paid at the end of August.
The industry training body CITB has been unable to find them apprenticeships with other companies.
The decision to make the apprentices redundant was made just as Parliament went into recess, preventing MPs from raising concerns at the decision.
Gail Cartmail, assistant general secretary of the Unite general union, said: “This is an appalling way to treat these apprentices who should have become the backbone of the industry. To dump them and to destroy their training is an act of crass stupidity.
“These actions highlight the government’s total failure to assist the workers who have been most affected by Carillion’s collapse through no fault of their own.
“The government could have used its procurement power to find placements for these apprentices but it chose not to, demonstrating that it is not serious about dealing with the skills crisis facing the industry.”
The 341 apprentices soon to lose their jobs are spread across England, but the greatest numbers are based in the North East and North West.
The number of redundancies following Carillion’s demise now totals 2,778, while 13,516 jobs have been saved, and 1,277 employees have left the business.