💼 Firms offered £3,000 for taking on unemployed young people
- HRNews
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
What is it?
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden has announced a new Youth Jobs Grant, under which businesses will receive £3,000 for every young person they hire aged 18 to 24 who has been on Universal Credit and looking for work for six months. The scheme is expected to support 60,000 young people over a three year period.
What you need to know
The Youth Jobs Grant is part of a £1 billion youth employment drive, which will help to create 200,000 jobs for young people alongside the biggest transformation of apprenticeships in a decade.
The scale of the problem is significant. The number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs) currently sits at nearly one million, and within that group the proportion who are sick or disabled has doubled to around 45% of the total. More than half (58%) of NEETs have never had a job.
Alongside the £3,000 grant, the Government has announced:
Expansion of the Jobs Guarantee from 18 to 21 year olds to cover 18 to 24 year olds, creating more than 35,000 extra subsidised jobs. This brings the total supported through the scheme to over 90,000 in the next three years.
An Apprenticeship Incentive of £2,000 for each new employee aged 16 to 24 taken on by a small or medium sized firm, to help meet the target of 50,000 more apprenticeships.
Speaking for the Federation of Small Businesses, Policy Chair Tina McKenzie described the Youth Jobs Grant as a "game changer" in tackling youth unemployment and inactivity, saying: "It's the right choice to prioritise public funding to back small employers in particular to provide apprenticeships for young people. The UK can't afford a lost generation amid rising employment costs, therefore we're pleased the Government has listened carefully on this and stepped up with this pro-jobs, pro-opportunities package."
Ministers have not yet set out how employers will qualify for the payments.
What it means for you
If you've been considering bringing in younger talent, these incentives could make it much more affordable. A £3,000 grant per qualifying hire, or £2,000 for a new apprentice, is a meaningful contribution towards onboarding, training and the wider cost of bringing someone into the business.
With the qualifying criteria still to be confirmed, now is a good time to review your recruitment pipeline, think about where a younger hire or apprentice could add value, and get your onboarding and early career support in place so you're ready to move when the detail lands.
How Lansbury HR can help
We can support you with designing recruitment and onboarding processes that set young hires and apprentices up to succeed, drafting the right contracts and policies, and getting your managers ready to support less experienced team members. Get in touch to find out more.
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