Skills shortage meet free staff plus small print – the Government Kickstart Scheme unravelled.
KICKSTART SCHEME
Kickstart is a new £2bn scheme as part of the Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s ‘plan for jobs’ focusing on young people aged16-24 that’s due to have its first start in November 2020. The intention of the scheme is to improve the employability of young people by providing a 25 hours per week, six-month placement for those 16–24 year olds currently claiming Universal Credit.
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250,000 under 25s are claiming unemployment benefits since March and around 700,000 have left education which means there is a huge pool of talent waiting to be utilised.
So how do we, as business owners, get this valuable resource? We asked expert in this field, Steve Ackroyd, at ‘The Job Guru’, for a run down. BUSINESS BENEFITS
Now, this scheme is obviously beneficial to the 16-24 year olds that get the work placement but where are the benefits for the business that takes them on? After all, the employer is responsible for providing employability training such as CV writing, interview techniques and how to look for a job. That all takes time, skills the employer may not have, and money.
For small businesses that haven’t employed anyone before, it’s a great opportunity to test out what it’s like to employ someone with minimal financial risk. For businesses that already have employees, the Kickstarter employees may be an opportunity to expand a new product or service, and get more support in an overworked department (such as marketing). Very importantly in today’s Covid-aware society, it’s great PR for your business, to show that you are supporting a young person to get into employment.
HOW IT WORKS
A Kickstart application must be for a minimum of 30 job placements. If a single employer cannot provide this many job placements then they must either join a group of other employers and nominate a representative or register their interest with an existing representative. Importantly, the Kickstarters don’t all have to start at the same time, this means you can stagger start dates rather than having them all start at once. Jobcentre Work Coaches will promote the vacancies and candidates for the vacancies will be sent to the employer by the Jobcentre. Employers will interview the candidates and are at liberty to reject candidates that aren’t suitable; there is no obligation to take someone on.
