The Government have demonstrated that they are serious about apprentices being an important part of the economic recovery and getting our young people into jobs which will lead to skilled employment. From 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021, employers will receive £3000 for new employees of any age, which is in addition to the £1000 already available for recruiting a 16-18 year old.
Over the last twelve months, training providers have been hit hard financially with the decrease in new apprentices opportunities. That’s not to say training as a whole has slowed down for young people, and the sector has worked hard to train these young people to be in the best place to take advantage as the economy starts to bounce back. There have been many potential job seekers, looking for a career opportunity training on study programmes, Traineeships and adult back to work programmes.
The new incentives will create stimulus for those new apprenticeship career start jobs that young and older individuals have been waiting for. In previous years, it has been difficult to recruit a “good apprentice” to start in April as those with demonstrable positive attitudes and behaviours are usually either in learning or training and will be seeking their next move at the end of the academic year. However, 2021 is an unusual year and there is a solid base of young and older people who are just waiting for their ideal opportunity to take up their first roles in their chosen career.
The incentive offered to employers is a real support to help with wages and gives them a real opportunity to recruit talented individuals to add value to the business and help the business thrive in a competitive and challenging world.
It’s equally important that training providers don’t delay matching the vacancies and getting apprentices into place as quickly as possible to generate funded starts. There is a finite opportunity window which benefits all. Technology works best when it works to all our advantages.
With document electronic signatures, eSignUp is built specifically to get apprentices into funded starts as quickly as possible with a clear individualised training plan, so that the apprentice makes an impact for the employer from day one. Why not make sure you are positioning your training company to take advantage of the increased apprenticeship incentives window and do your bit to maximise the number of people getting their opportunity to train and learn with some of the best businesses?
Carol Smith