Switchboard by Manchester Digital opens early tech career routes 2026

Key Points

• Manchester Digital has launched Switchboard, a new service to help tech employers offer work experience, placements, internships and apprenticeships.
• The initiative matches employers with suitable candidates and provides practical support including coordination, line management and safeguarding.
• Launch comes amid Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s plans to extend the MBacc technical education pathway across England and introduce 45-day work placements.
• Around one million young people in the UK are currently not in education, employment or training – the highest figure in 12 years.
• Katie Gallagher OBE, Managing Director of Manchester Digital, said Switchboard gives employers “a very practical way to open that first door”.
• Holly Onstenk of Hippo said Manchester Digital’s support made it “much easier” to create meaningful opportunities without an unrealistic burden.
• Early employer sign-ups include ElevAIte, hackajob, Nexer Group, Nimble Approach, Slalom, If Agency, Canopius, Datum Datacentres and CTI.
• Manchester Digital is urging companies bidding for public contracts to build skills opportunities into their offers now, ahead of expected tender changes.
• Smaller businesses can split placements across two or three employers, with supervision plans and hands-on support from Manchester Digital.
• Employers can sign up to Switchboard via the Manchester Digital website.

Manchester (Manchester Mirror) August 04, 2026 – The regional tech industry body Manchester Digital has launched Switchboard, a new service designed to make it easier for technology employers to offer work experience, mentoring, industry placements, internships and apprenticeships to early-career talent in Greater Manchester. Switchboard builds on Manchester Digital’s existing work delivering placements and early-career programmes by giving businesses a single, clear route to declare what they can offer, while Manchester Digital finds suitable candidates, makes the match and provides practical support including coordination, line management and safeguarding.

How does Switchboard work for tech employers and young people?

Switchboard operates as a matching and support service for Greater Manchester’s tech sector. Employers tell Manchester Digital what they can offer over the next 12 months – whether that is a week of work experience, a 45-day industry placement, an internship, an apprenticeship, or even mentoring someone for an hour a month – along with rough numbers and capacity windows. Manchester Digital then adds them to a list of backing employers, identifies suitable candidates, makes the match and handles the administrative and safeguarding elements. As reported by Marketing uk/local/stockport/">Stockport, the model is intended to lower the barrier for firms that want to help but lack the internal bandwidth to manage placements end to end.

Why has Manchester Digital launched Switchboard now?

The launch comes at a time of heightened pressure on entry-level routes into tech. As reported by Marketing Stockport, there are currently one million young people in the UK not in education, employment or training (NEET), the highest figure in 12 years. Katie Gallagher OBE, Managing Director of Manchester Digital, said:

“Young people in the region are struggling more than ever to gain their first foothold into a tech career. The fast growth of AI as well as economic pressure have made it more difficult for employers to take on early career roles, which often require a lot of support”.

On the Manchester Digital website, the “Why now” section states that while employers have struggled to recruit, too many entry-level routes have narrowed or disappeared, and argues the sector needs to “fix this for itself and help rebuild a stronger route in”.

What role does government policy and public procurement play?

Switchboard’s launch coincides with recent policy signals from the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham. As reported by Marketing Stockport, last week Burnham announced he would extend the region’s MBacc pathway – which supports technical education for 14–19 year olds – across the whole of England, alongside measures that would include a 45-day work placement where necessary. The Manchester Digital Switchboard page notes that Burnham’s recent speeches have indicated the government expects employers to play a bigger role in creating routes into work, including through procurement and 45-day placements, with further detail expected. Social value already carries a minimum weighting of 10% in central government procurements covered by the Social Value Model, and employment, apprenticeships and training opportunities can form part of a supplier’s offer provided the measures are relevant and proportionate to the contract. Manchester Digital is urging tech companies that bid for public contracts to build meaningful opportunities into their business now rather than waiting until a tender lands.

Which employers have joined Switchboard so far?

A number of Greater Manchester tech employers have already signed up to Switchboard. As reported by Marketing Stockport, the list includes ElevAIte, hackajob, Nexer Group, Nimble Approach, Slalom, If Agency, Canopius, Datum Datacentres and CTI. These early adopters are being used to demonstrate that a range of business sizes and models can participate, with Manchester Digital emphasising that even short-term or modest commitments count towards the scheme.

What do Manchester Digital and partner leaders say about Switchboard?

Katie Gallagher OBE, Managing Director of Manchester Digital, said:

“Our new service Switchboard gives the region’s tech employers a very practical way to open that first door. Not every company can offer an apprenticeship or a permanent role, but most can offer something, even if it’s a short-term work placement”. She added:

“By working closely with Manchester Digital, we know that tech employers can create valuable work experience opportunities and help to develop the tech talent that Greater Manchester is known for”.

Holly Onstenk, ESG & Social Value Lead at digital transformation consultancy Hippo, said:

“Partnering with Manchester Digital made it much easier for us to create a meaningful opportunity for young people without placing an unrealistic burden on the business. Their team handled the coordination, line management and ongoing support, giving us the confidence to focus on what we do best: providing real project experience, mentoring and insight into working in tech”.

Onstenk continued:

“The wrap-around support and flexible hybrid model made the placement manageable for our team and valuable for the students. By taking care of the legwork and providing the right support infrastructure, Manchester Digital enabled us to concentrate our time where it had the greatest impact”.

How can smaller tech businesses take part in Switchboard?

Manchester Digital is explicitly targeting smaller firms that might assume placements are beyond their capacity. The Switchboard page states: “Ten-person companies usually assume this isn’t for them. It is. We can split a placement between two or three businesses, give you a supervision plan and offer any wraparound support that you might need”. As reported by Marketing Stockport, smaller businesses are a particular focus, with placements able to be split across two or three employers and Manchester Digital providing supervision plans and hands-on support for firms offering a placement for the first time. Employers can sign up via the Switchboard page on the Manchester Digital website, where they are asked to indicate what they can offer over the next 12 months, roughly how many opportunities, and when they would have capacity.

Background to the development

Switchboard emerges from Manchester Digital’s existing role as a regional tech industry body that already works with employers across Greater Manchester to deliver a significant number of placements and early-career programmes. Katie Gallagher OBE, who has been recognised for services to the digital technology industry in the North with an OBE in the 2024 King’s New Year Honours, leads Manchester Digital and also chairs the UK Tech Cluster Group. The initiative aligns with wider national and regional policy directions on technical education and social value in public procurement, including Burnham’s MBacc extension and the government’s Social Value Model, which mandates at least a 10% weighting for social value in relevant central government tenders. Manchester Digital’s own messaging frames Switchboard as a sector-led response to the narrowing of entry-level routes, aiming to rebuild structured pathways into tech work through coordinated employer action.

Predictions for the impact on early-career talent and tech employers

If Switchboard gains traction, the most immediate effect is likely to be an increase in the number and variety of short-term work experience and placement opportunities available to young people in Greater Manchester, particularly those from smaller or first-time host employers. For early-career talent, this could translate into more accessible entry points into tech roles, clearer evidence of practical experience for CVs, and improved chances of progressing to internships, apprenticeships or permanent positions. For employers, especially small and mid-sized firms, the model could reduce the perceived risk and administrative burden of hosting placements, enabling them to contribute to talent pipelines without committing to full apprenticeship schemes.

Over time, if public procurement expectations around social value and skills tighten, companies that have already embedded placement capacity through Switchboard may find themselves better positioned to meet tender requirements and demonstrate social value in bids. The overall effect on the regional tech labour market will depend on sustained employer participation and the extent to which government policy moves to formalise placement expectations in procurement, but the direction of travel points towards more structured, supported routes from education into tech work in Greater Manchester.