Employee Involvement
Zurich have a vibrant apprenticeship programme which was launched in September 2014. Since then we have welcomed annual apprentice cohorts across our UK offices. We have apprenticeships in multiple disciplines including Insurance, Financial Administration, Business Administration, Accounting, Tax and Actuarial. Each apprentice has a mentor, who supports them throughout their apprenticeship and ensures that apprentices build the knowledge, skills and behaviours to have successful and sustainable careers.
We have been working closely via the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) with the Government, to help shape the Apprenticeship Levy by working through detailed proposals and suggesting ways in which the levy can be best implemented by business. We set up and continue to lead The Insurance Forum on Apprenticeships, which the CII are part of, and are working on the design of a Level 6 Insurance degree-level equivalent apprenticeship.
In 2016 one of our apprentices - Samantha Eustace - won Insurance Times Apprentice of the Year . We will build on and evolve our apprenticeship programme by expanding the portfolio of apprenticeships on offer and ensuring we develop compelling programmes and experiences to help apprentices achieve career success with Zurich.
We also offer a Work Skills Programme in our Farnborough office. This scheme provides a tailored work programme for people who have been unemployed for 13 weeks or more. They are provided with a paid, 6-month placement at Zurich with the aim of helping them to get back into employment. The 2016 scheme has led to permanent and extended contracts at Zurich for all of the participants. We also provide 50 work experience placements for year 10-12 students across all our offices.