Businesses could receive financial incentives to hire young people under new Government proposals to tackle youth unemployment and expand apprenticeship opportunities.
Ministers have announced plans to create around 200,000 jobs through a £1bn funding package aimed at supporting employers and helping young people move into work. As part of the initiative, companies will receive a £3,000 grant for each person aged 18 to 24 they employ who has been out of work and actively seeking a job for at least six months.
Small and medium-sized businesses will also be offered £2,000 for every new apprentice they recruit. The Government estimates that around 60,000 young people could benefit directly from these measures.
The proposals also include expanding the existing jobs guarantee scheme. Currently, young people aged 18 to 21 who have been claiming Universal Credit and searching for work for 18 months are guaranteed a six-month job placement. Under the new plans, eligibility for this support would be extended to people up to the age of 24.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the reforms form part of a wider effort to build “an economy that works for everyone”, while helping to close the skills gap and support more young people into long-term employment.
The announcement sits alongside wider employment reforms proposed in the Government’s Employment Rights legislation. The act is intended to strengthen worker protections, including reducing the qualifying period for unfair dismissal claims from two years to six months. Labour had originally pledged to introduce this protection from the first day of employment during the election campaign.
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