Everything you need to know about Kickstart scheme jobs
Redwigwam is incredibly proud to be an official Kickstart Scheme Gateway.
Here’s the lowdown on how this national, government placement and job scheme works for both employers and 16-24 year olds on Universal Credit looking for a job placement.
What is the Kickstart Scheme?
Quite simply, the Kickstart Scheme is focused on employability and jobs for young people aged 16-24 receiving Universal Credit. It is a government initiative to create new job placements for young people in the UK, who are currently claiming Universal Credit and are at risk of long-term unemployment, many of whom through no fault of their own. Sadly, Covid19 has had a huge impact on levels of unemployment within this age group, something the government's Kickstart Scheme is fundamentally addressing. And it's super easy to support and get involved in!
How does it work for employers?
Access to a new, young workforce, 25 hours per week for free!
The Kickstart Scheme is a simple and fantastic way for employers of any size to help young people become available for employment. You provide 6-month placements and jobs in your business, offering 25 hours of work per week. As part of the Kickstart Scheme, the government will support companies by covering all the employment costs - so there is no cost for an employer to participate in the scheme. It is quite simply a great way to help create a more employable and trained workforce as we come through the other side of the Covid-19 pandemic and give young people the opportunity to gain experience and inspiration from working in some of Britain's most exciting companies.
It is also essential that all your kickstart jobs provide training and development opportunities for your placements - more information on that later!
How does it work for young people aged 16-24?
The Kickstart Scheme is all about giving young people currently claiming Universal Credit the opportunity to gain experience working in some of Britain's best companies and provide a brighter future.
As part of your job placement, you will be paid at minimum wage for 25 hours a week for your Kickstart Scheme job. Your job placement will run for 6 months.
OK, how does it work with redwigwam?
Simple. We make it easy and do all the work for you finding your kickstart job!
- As an official government partner for the Kickstart Scheme, we are working with many businesses who are recruiting for a wide variety of Kickstart Scheme job placements – matching all sorts of skills!
- We have Kickstart jobs on offer on a national basis in locations from Liverpool to London and everywhere in between.
- Once you have found a job that suits, all you have to do is complete the simple form – and we will take it from there. Your prospective employer may require a quick interview – if you are successful, we will then refer you back to your work coach who will get you up and running in your Kickstart job placement.
As the UK's leading flexible working platform, we are passionate about the Kickstart Scheme to help create jobs and support building a more positive and flexible future in the world of work.
- Something important for us, is that everyone who finds a placement on the Kickstart Scheme jobs can also become part of our redwigwam community. This means there will be extra opportunity to find other jobs once the Kickstart scheme has ended.
- We offer flexible, part-time and temporary work with employers across the country - so once you become part of our community there will be ongoing ways to supplement your income and learn new skills in different sectors ranging from roles in retail, hospitality, cleaning and warehousing to name but a few.
redwigwam provides support and training for all our wigwammers, yes that's the name of our community of over 150,000 workers in locations across the UK.
Kickstart Scheme Summary - important details to know for buisnesses.
If you are interested in accessing employees on a funded Kickstart Scheme job placement, please read the below information carefully to check your eligibility.
Am I eligible?
In order to be eligible for this, the jobs created with Kickstart Scheme funding must be completely new jobs. They must not:
- Replace existing or planned vacancies.
- Cause existing employees, apprenticeships or contractors to lose work or reduce their working hours in any way.
The jobs must:
- Be for a minimum of 25 hours per week for 6 months. (The government will pay for 25 hours. You can employee the young person for more hours, but you will have to pay this yourself).
To make the scheme as flexible as possible, you can spread the start date of job placements up until the end of December 2021.
A commitment to training and development
The employer must be willing to commit and be available to helping the young person become more employable as a result of the Kickstart Scheme. This could include a number of the elements such as the following:
- Provision of career advice, working with the young people to identify the types of roles that in their future careers they may wish to pursue once they have completed the Kickstart Scheme.
- Personal development guidance through setting goals and discussing and tracking performance, identifying areas for exploration.
- Advice and guidance on CV writing and ways to build a strong personal brand on social media channels such as LinkedIn to ensure you stand out when trying to find a job.
- Interview training - helping young people build their confidence and communication techniques in advance of job interviews.
- Communication skills - Supporting people in how they communicate both verbally and in writing. Practical hints and tips on how to write e-mails and discuss formal business communication and creating impact.
- Confidence building - Helping people unlock what gives them confidence and what their career goals might be to help when they are looking to secure that great next job as and when it becomes available following participation on the Kickstart Scheme.
Obviously, the ambition for this programme and indeed for redwigwam is that the Kickstart Scheme acts as a catalyst for our young talent on a 1-2-1 basis but more broadly for the economy to help drive skills and employability as we build back better the other side of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Be part of making a huge difference for our country's youth and in so doing, creating new opportunities for our future workforce.
Resources to explore
Here are some more resources available for you - do please have a read to discover even more about the wonderful world of the Kickstart Scheme to fully acquaint yourself with what it offers.
https://www.redwigwam.com/kickstart
https://jobhelp.campaign.gov.uk/kickstart/
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-kickstart-scheme-grant