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The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, used his mini budget yesterday (8th July 2020) to offer incentives which he hopes will create more apprenticeship and traineeship opportunities for young people in the UK.

With very real worries that the pandemic could lead to a lost generation of young workers in the country, the Chancellor said that he wanted to give young people a ‘better start’ and vowed that nobody would be ‘left without hope in the UK.’

The incentives which the UK government are putting forward include bonuses of up to £2,000 for businesses and other organisations who can offer new apprenticeships and traineeships to the youth of Britain.

Introducing the new measures, Mr Sunak, said: “Today, we act, with a plan for jobs. Our plan has a clear goal - to protect, support and create jobs. It will give businesses the confidence to retain and hire. To create jobs in every part of our country.”

Acknowledging that young people have without doubt been the most affected demographic because of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chancellor said: “Over 700,000 people are leaving education this year. Many more are just starting out in their careers. Coronavirus has hit them hard. Under 25s are two and a half times as likely to work in a sector that has been closed.”

Outlining the government’s new plans for apprenticeships, the Chancellor went on to say: “For the next six months we are going to pay employers to create new apprenticeships. We will pay businesses to hire young apprentices with a new payment of £2,000 per apprentice, and we will introduce a brand new bonus for businesses to hire apprentices aged 25 and over with a payment of £1,500.”

And, announcing the traineeship incentives for businesses, Mr Sunak said: “Traineeships are a proven scheme to get young people ready for work, we know they work. So for the first time ever we will pay employers a £1,000 bonus to take on new trainees with triple the number of places.”

Adding some insight to why these measures are so important, the Head of Research at leading think tank Adam Smith Institute, Matthew Lesh, said: “The Covid-19 virus harms older people the most, but the economic lockdown is destroying life opportunities for young people. They are losing jobs in hospitality and retail and will find it harder to get onto the jobs ladder, risking a long-term loss of income.”

“The Government is rightly focusing on getting young people into real jobs, rather than establishing expensive make-work schemes. This wage subsidy scheme will get many young people onto the job ladder, building skills that will make them employable in the future.”

If you are a young person affected by the pandemic’s effect on the jobs market then apprenticeships and traineeships could both be great options to get you into the workplace.

If you aren’t 100 per cent sure what the pros and cons are between the two options then take a look at our detailed guides to apprenticeships and traineeships now.