Employers offered subsidy to hire young
Employers are being urged by the government to claim their share of a £1 billion government wage subsidy to recruit up to 160,000 young people.
Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and employment minister Chris Grayling announced that the wage subsidy will be available through the government’s Youth Contract for firms taking on young unemployed people from April this year.
Employers can collect up to £2,275 for every person aged 18-24 years old that they hire from the government’s Work Programme, to cover costs such as National Insurance.
Payments will be made once the young person has been employed for 26 weeks.
To help smaller businesses with their cash flow and make the jobs viable, the subsidy will be paid in two instalments, with the first payment after eight weeks and the rest after 26 weeks.