The UK government is urging people to consider a career in beauty as there are currently more than 4,000 vacancies in the sector.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is using British Beauty Week (26 to 30 October) to raise awareness of the beauty careers available on its Find a Job portal website.
The vacancies include beauty therapist, merchandiser and lecturer roles, to name a few.
All suit different levels of experience.
The aim is to help fill the recruitment void and drive excellence across the industry.
“This booming [beauty] sector offers a range of exciting roles and skills development, along with progression opportunities and a new sense of purpose,” said Diane Whitbread, one of the DWP’s Employer Engagement Advisors.
“Our Jobcentre network can provide crucial advice to all jobseekers.
“And my dedicated colleagues, including work coaches, stand ready to help people begin rewarding careers within this dynamic industry.”
The beauty sector contributed £24.5bn to the UK economy in 2022, found industry body the British Beauty Council, which runs British Beauty Week.
It also supports a total of 550,000 jobs across media, services and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) roles.
“The British beauty industry makes a bigger contribution to the UK’s GDP than the creative, arts and entertainment sector, and the aerospace manufacturing sector,” commented Millie Kendall, CEO of the Council.
“However, many people are unaware of the diverse range of opportunities available in the sector.”
Job centres across Great Britain are working closely with industry employers to help promote and fill these beauty and hair-based vacancies.
DWP offers a range of Sector-Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs) that offer pre-employment training and work experience with top industry employers.
At the end of the six-week scheme, either a job interview or help with the application process is given to those who took part.
In the summer, a SWAP was run in collaboration with L’Oréal Paris in North London for a Beauty Counter Advisor role.
It included bespoke training from a local college and all candidates were successful in securing a role at the French beauty conglomerate.
DWP is also collaborating with small-to-medium-sized beauty employers, such as Elite Hotels, which owns three properties in the South of England.
This is not the first time the UK Government and the BBCo have worked together.
In February, the council launched a UK government-backed programme to promote beauty careers to secondary school students in England.
The Future Talent Programme demonstrates to 11 to 18-year-olds the careers available across the beauty and STEM sectors.
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