What is the Kickstart scheme?
Payrolls are by far a company’s biggest expenditure. The Kickstart scheme aims to help alleviate this burden by funding 100% of the minimum wage for new employees (up to 25 hours per week), as long as they are on Universal Credit and are between the ages of 16 and 24.
This is a massive opportunity for employers and prospective employees alike. With the covid-19 pandemic, many businesses have had to furlough their employees, or even lay them off. This means companies have had to massively downsize… and as for growth? Growth is a distant ship on the horizon for many right now.
The government refer to an organisation that has shown interest in representing and helping employers create 29 (or less) job placements as a “Kickstart gateway”. These gateways are usually training providers, recruitment agencies or even the local council themselves. If you’re planning on creating 29 or less jobs, you’ll need to partner with one of these gateways. You can search for gateways in your area here.
Let’s do some speculating.
How will this benefit employers in the UK?
There’s a vaccine for Covid-19 currently being deployed which means those who are most vulnerable should be protected from the virus in good time – these most vulnerable folk are the people lockdown is aimed to protect. With a good majority of them immunised, there’s every chance lockdown could come to a stop and businesses are given the time to recover.
Now, Kickstart essentially grants employers “free” part time labour for six months, more than enough time for this vaccine to immunise the ones who need it most. Taking advantage of kickstart early, means that your business or businesses in your community can actually afford to train new hires on the job and get them accustomed to your working culture. By the time lockdown is over, you could already have a full team ready and rearing to go!
How will this benefit young people?
Obviously, it’ll get our young people into jobs. There’s no denying that. Companies across the country will be dedicating time to taking advantage of the generous scheme. But there’s also very strong evidence to suggest that young people who are out of work for 6 months will remain out of work for the rest of their lives – more or less. That’s why the Kickstart scheme is aimed specifically for that age range.
According to this parliament linked study, there was a 14% increase in unemployment for young people this year. The Government are kicking it up a notch to get as many young people as possible back into work. The Liverpool City Council, as well as many other local councils, are listed as Kickstart gateways. This gives the UK Government the opportunity to liaise with local councils to make sure every young person has a job opportunity. Whilst on Universal Credit, a person must accept the first job offer they receive or they risk losing their benefits.
You can learn more about Universal Credit here.
In summary
The Kickstart scheme places value on education, training and job opportunities for young people. It doesn’t need to be said at this point that this will be a strong asset to the country as a whole. Some would argue that the potential for young people to be forced into a job is a bad thing, however the alternative is that many of these young people will end up out of work for the majority of the rest of their lives. Even though they may not like the jobs they are offered in the short term, the long-term training and experience will be well worth it.
How exactly does it work?
You can read more about the specifics of the Kickstart scheme on the government portal here.
If you’re thinking about taking advantage of this payroll scheme, Start Education provides digital media training for free until July 2021. Why not sign your new hires up and get a double dipping of value. Start Education is an accredited education and training provider that operates all around the Liverpool City Region; including: Sefton, St Helens, Wirral, Halton, Liverpool and Knowsley.
You can find out more about Start Education on their website.