Webhelp TSC, a leading call centre firm, is planning to create a total of 70 new jobs as part of a new pre-employment training initiative for young people.

The new jobs will be given to young people who have been facing difficulties finding their first jobs. The candidates will undergo a five-week work skills course at the Webhelp's Customer Experience Academy and appear for a job interview at the firm. Webhelp said that it will [provide training and support to those young people who are not able to clear the standard communicative entrance tests used by most employers.

Webhelp will make them full-time employees and will also support through a 12-month modern apprenticeship. Webhelp TSC has its headquarters at Falkirkin the UK and operates several Scottish locations, including Dunoon, Glasgow, Greenock, Kilmarnock and Rothesay.

Webhelp chief executive David Turner said: "We launched the Customer Experience Academy as a pilot project a few months ago and now have 137 people in employment with us who have been through this process. These team members are now thriving in their employment with us at Webhelp TSC. We noted that there were a growing number of candidates who didn't quite have the interpersonal skills to pass our recruitment tests. But they were only just failing."

He also said that once these candidates were employed that would develop their skills. The pilot scheme proved to be successful and the company is opening new positions including 70 in Glasgow. The Scottish Government has launched a Make Young People Your Business Week to convince businesses to hire young people.