What can the Kickstart Scheme do for your business?

28th January 2021

News Member News Recruitment

The Kickstart Scheme presents a new opportunity for businesses as part of the Government's Plan For Jobs. Sheffield Futures have produced a Kickstart guide to help you understand the basics.

The Kickstart Scheme is a temporary business incentive available from November 2020 until December 2021. The Government will pay the full national minimum wage for a new employee for your business for six months at 25 hours per week. The Job Centre will provide you with interviewees that match your job specifications from a talent pool of 16 – 24 year olds searching for employment. There is no obligation for you to make employment permanent after the six-month period is complete, and no cap on the number of Kickstart employees you can hire. This provides you with financial support, a flexible talent solution, and provides a young person with an opportunity to develop their employment prospects.

A Kickstart application must meet the following criteria to be successful:
• The role(s) must be new and not displace any current roles in the organisation.
• You must provide high quality employment with real learning opportunities and responsibilities.
• You will receive £1,500 per Kickstart employee to provide them with employability skills training, careers guidance, and to go towards additional support costs. There are a range of local organisations who have Kickstart packages available to help you meet these obligations, including Sheffield Futures.

There are organisations called ‘Kickstart Gateways’ who liaise with the DWP on your behalf and support your application(s). You can search for these on the official Kickstart website, or Sheffield Futures can independently introduce you to a local Kickstart Gateway to best suit your needs.

Alex the Employer Engagement Coordinator at Sheffield Futures can walk you through the scheme and answer any questions you have. Sheffield Futures have also produced a short video to cover the basics and more on their website: https://www.sheffieldfutures.org.uk/commercial/employers/