Youth Contract scheme

The £1 billion Youth Contract that was launched in April this year doesn’t seem to be very well known about by employers. This is according to a recent survey by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation.

The scheme was intended to provide new opportunities for 18-24-year-olds, including apprenticeships and voluntary work experience placements. It offers employers a wage incentive of up to £2,275 for hiring a young person.

But according to the REC survey, the scheme is unknown to 31% of the employers polled; an additional 36% knew of the scheme but didn’t intend to act on it. A further 11% were unsure whether they’d heard about the incentive scheme or would make use of it.