Incentives for businesses to recruit

You may well have heard – but there is a lot of talk these days about helping young people into employment. Discussions now are around how the Government can stimulate job creation, and help reduce youth unemployment (which has recently hit 1million – a scarily rate of 21.9%). For many of our clients, this is really worth keeping track of. Although there is nothing concrete at the moment, there is talk of a National Insurance Holiday, and other schemes which could make it more affordable for you to hire. There are already apprentice schemes, and Vince Cable the Business Secretary has stated that he’ll work to cut the red tape even further with a review to be carried on in 2012. One specific incentive at the moment is an incentive payment of up to £1500 for employers with up to 50 employees to take on an apprentice. An initial payment will be made two months after the individual has started, with the balance to be paid after the apprenticeship has been completed and the trainee has progresses into suitable employment. I’m not sure how many people are aware of this, but what I do know is that at the moment a lot of employers have no idea where to start with this. Ultimate responsibility lies with the National Enterprise Service (NAS) – which can be found by clicking here, and if we find out more about what process needs to be followed to get this £1500 we’ll update this post and let everyone know!!