How to make the most of the Government’s Plan for Jobs
In July the Government launched its Plan for Jobs with much of it aimed at supporting young people to progress into work and to prevent long term unemployment. This is an opportunity for our industry to respond to the Government’s call to help young people, and in addition drive a more diverse pool of talent to firms’ early careers schemes, including the Investment20/20 Trainee Programme.
The number of people aged 18 – 24 years old claiming Universal Credit or Job Seekers Allowance doubled in the UK from May to July 2020 according to the BBC. Through the Plan for Jobs, with the support of Investment20/20, our industry can provide opportunities which will change lives.
There are two options available to firms under the plan: the Kickstart scheme and Traineeships. Participation in these schemes can be done as an industry and both of these options could form part of your wider talent strategy and the Investment20/20 team will support you with both.
1. Kickstart Scheme
The purpose of this scheme is to create 6-month work placements aimed at 16-24-year olds who are on Universal Credit. COVID-19 has had a significant impact on this age group and the scheme is designed to address concerns over young people’s employment opportunities. It is a £2 billion fund but participating firms do not benefit from Government money, as the funding is there to pay the young person the National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week (equivalent to unemployment benefits they were claiming), alongside the associated employer National Insurance contributions and employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions. Employers will work directly with the DWP to source the Kickstart participants with the scheme ending in December 2021. To participate, employers are required to have a minimum of 30 placements and for most firms within our industry this will not be possible. As the industry’s trade body, we will enable firms to take part in this scheme by acting as an industry representative group so that collectively as an industry, we will have a minimum of 30 placements. We will further support members by integrating industry knowledge and skills training into the delivery of these programmes.
2. Traineeships
An additional £111 million of Government funding will pay for high-quality work placements and training for 16-24-year olds. The Government will fund employers who provide young people with a minimum of 70 hours of work experience which can be from 6 weeks to 6 months, at a rate of £1,000 per trainee. The Government has expanded eligibility for traineeships to those with Level 3 qualifications (equivalent to A Level) and below, to ensure increased numbers of young people have access to high quality training. Employers will need to contract with a traineeship provider as part of the learning and development programme.
Both the Kickstart and Traineeship schemes involve having a young person in your team for a defined period of time and it gives you an opportunity to support them at a time when they need it most. Investment20/20 will support member firms on both of these programmes by integrating industry knowledge and skills training into the delivery of these programmes.
Please contact karis.stander@investment2020.org.uk if you are interested in participating.
Webinar: Plan for Jobs
We are delighted to announce we will be joined by policy experts from the Department for Education (DfE) and Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for two exclusive webinars with IA members. The Departments will be discussing how the investment management industry can get involved in the Government’s “Plan for Jobs” initiatives, including traineeships, apprenticeships and Kickstart, announced by the Chancellor over the summer. There will also be the opportunity to submit questions.
If you are interested in your firm participating in these initiatives, please click here for more information.
Timings on 22nd October:
Please do join us if you can for one or both of the sessions.
