TalkTalk’s 14th annual Night of Ambition gala has raised over £401k for Ambitious about Autism, a charity which supports young people living with autism across the UK.
ONS data shows that only 29% of autistic people are in full time or part time employment. Although 71% of those who are currently unemployed would like to be in work, less than a third are confident they would be able to find work within the next year.
Ambitious about Autism’s internship programme, Employ Autism, seeks to get more than 450 autistic young people into paid experiences of work and provide careers advice and employability skills to more than 1500 autistic young people by September 2024.
Jolanta Lasota, Ambitious about Autism Chief Executive, said: “Autistic young people have career aspirations and dreams for the future just like everybody else, but sadly the odds remain stacked against them.
“Too often in their employment journey they are met with discrimination, a lack of understanding and low expectations about what they can achieve.”
This month, TalkTalk has recruited its first interns via the scheme into roles varying from Commercial Analyst to Policy Associate and People Operations Administrator.
TalkTalk Chief Executive, Tristia Harrison, added: “At TalkTalk we celebrate diversity and pride ourselves on being an inclusive place to work.
“The Employ Autism programme is a pioneering employability model, breaking down the immense barriers to employment for autistic young people and helping them get a foot on the employment ladder.”