A large Crumlin-based production and recycling company has reinvigorated its workforce thanks to a youth employment programme designed to get unemployed young people into work.

DS Smith Packaging has taken on three new members of staff thanks to the Jobs Growth Wales programme and provided numerous work experience placements since contacting Careers Wales last year.

The company, which has many sites across Wales, the UK and abroad, first contacted Careers Wales with an interest to offer an opportunity to a young, local person to train as a CAD Designer.

Careers Wales employer engagement adviser Cath Thomas suggested the Welsh Government’s Jobs Growth Wales programme and Adam Shorthouse was appointed to the position.

The EU backed programme is available for unemployed ‘job ready’ young people aged 16-24 providing them with a paid job opportunity for six months with a view to giving them a sustainable job.

Latest figures for the number of job opportunities created by Jobs Growth Wales since April 2012 to this month reached over 16,500, with 13,909 filled.

Adam has now progressed to Customer Services Apprenticeship, accessing the Young Recruits Programme with South Wales based learning provider Educ8.

Design manager for DS Smith, David Price, has supported many projects for Careers Wales, including the Exploring Business event at Cwm Rhymney and a Dragons Den activity at Blackwood Comprehensive School.

He said: “At DS Smith Packaging we’ve been involved with the education bodies in Wales for some time, with me personally taking part in some of the initiatives.

“During one school visit I could see a need to allow pupils to unlock their potential and felt this gap could be filled with the help of local businesses. From this, I spoke with the schools and Careers Wales to see how we could help further.

“Throughout this process, I recognised that we could go one step further and could create a job opportunity for one person. We started the opportunity with Adam in June of last year and he is still with us today and we are continuing his journey and growth within the design team.”

The success of Adam’s employment meant the company rolled the scheme out within the customer services team, taking on another two young people through Jobs Growth Wales.

David said: “We saw an opportunity to help young people understand the needs of the business world and give them access to training, while at the same time we benefit from bringing in fresh, talented individuals and developing their skills to fit with the needs of our organisation.

“We have promoted the scheme within the other parts of DS Smith and recommended it to our customers and suppliers.”

Prospective candidates for Jobs Growth Wales find opportunities by visiting the Careers Wales website.