Blog 007 - Government Schemes to help with Staffing

The Government has introduced a targeted plan to help prevent job losses and ensure that the training of the next generation of the workforce isn’t lost during the inevitable times of austerity in the private sector. The below is a very brief run through of some of the schemes that Specialist Contractors can, and should, make use if during this time in order to strengthen and secure their businesses for the future.

Coronavirus Job Retention Bonus - For all workers furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme that have now returned to work and are kept in continuous employment up to the end Jan 2021, the UK Gov will pay a bonus of £1000 per worker to the employer. Payable from Feb 2021. Note, this is for employees earning above the Lower Earning Limit (£520 / Month) during the period.

Traineeships - The Government is offering a Trainee scheme, where candidates ages 16-24 can be taken on for Traineeships or “work experience” for a period of six weeks to a year (note, it is max 240hrs over the traineeship). The Governments intention being that people gain experience and are potentially offered an interview for a job at the end, but only if one is available, it isn’t compulsory. I think this is a great opportunity for Specialist Contractors to screen their potential Apprentices. The scheme permits up to 10nr Trainees at any one time and, currently unconfirmed is a £1k bonus from the government to be used towards traveling expenses and other costs associated with the Traineeship, making it essentially free apart from any time invested into the trainee. The Trainee’s can be trained in any capacity not just traditional trades but also in office and back of house support.

Apprentices can often have a high turnover due to disciplinary action from the employer or changes in direction from the Apprentices. Making use of the traineeship scheme as a step before an apprenticeship, with successful placements being offered an apprenticeship is a quick and successful way for employers to screen apprentices and for trainees to “try out” jobs before embarking on apprenticeships, hopefully reducing the volume of turnover.

Talent Retention Scheme - The CLC have created a job portal to assist people looking for work in the construction sector and Employers looking to recruit in the construction sector. This is a good opportunity for Specialist Contractors who are looking to recruit to locate candidates with construction industry experience and cut out those pesky agency finders fees! In the less favourable scenario where you might be making redundancies, it is a good tool you can point people towards in their search for new employment.

All of the above are not perfect, but they are opportunities. In spite of how difficult times ahead may get, we have a duty to resource the industry of the future. This can only be achieved by retaining the current talent and using it to train the talent of the future.

If you want to know more about any of the schemes or want to know how to implement a traineeship scheme in your specialist contracting company, go ahead and drop me an email!