Northrop Grumman in the UK joins The 5% Club

Northrop Grumman in the UK has committed to developing talent by joining The 5% Club -a movement of more than 800 employers providing ‘earn and learn’ opportunities to develop the skills people need to build meaningful careers.

The purpose of the Club is to inspire employers across the country to create ‘earn and learn job’ opportunities, which enable people of all backgrounds to train, retrain and upskill. By joining The 5% Club, members aspire to have at least 5% of their workforce in ‘earn and learn’ positions (including apprentices, sponsored students and graduates on formalised training schemes) within five years of joining. 

“We are continuously developing our programmes to support the learning and progression of our team members. At Northrop Grumman in the UK, more than 10% of our workforce will be in earn and learn positions by September 2023 and we will have 90 employees on our intern and graduate programmes – a 300% increase in the past two years.”- Andrew Nelson, Early Careers Development Manager.

The 5% Club was founded in October 2013 to address poverty arising from high unemployment, especially among the young and a shortage of the right skills for the workplace of today and tomorrow.

Leo Quinn, Founder of The 5% Club commented: “New technologies are changing the world of work – many jobs will disappear and new skills will be required to earn a living. The 5% Club is a great way for employers both to share best practice and to raise awareness of earn and learn among the next generation, to make sure they can access the skills to thrive in this changing world.

“As employers we are best placed to know the capabilities we will need to recruit, going forward – to help make sure that the UK is strong and successful enough to fund a fair society for all.

“I’ve always believed that what gets measured gets done, so crucially, members of The 5% Club declare both their intent and their progress.”

Oliver, a Graduate Software Engineer at Northrop Grumman in the UK commented: “The support and training structure is one of the best things I have found working at Northrop Grumman. The transition from a lecture hall to a professional job has been easy because of the amount of support and friendly people I have around me. I know if I struggle, or need to ask a question, there is someone there to help; from mentors, to managers and my graduate buddies. If you are considering joining the Northrop Grumman Graduate scheme, don’t think about it, just do it! It is honestly amazing.”

Read more about early career programmes at Northrop Grumman in the UK.