Employers re-opening and bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic are being advised by work-based learning provider Cambrian Training to consider applying for support from the Jobs Growth Wales (JGW) programme if they are looking to create new job opportunities.
The programme is designed to help growing businesses across Wales to create sustainable job opportunities for unemployed and job ready young people aged 16-24 years.
New recruits will be paid at least the national minimum wage for a minimum of 25 hours a week and the programme reimburses half of their wage cost for the first six months.
The Welsh Government programme, which is supported by the European Social Fund, provides young, work-ready people with a valuable opportunity to kick start their career and could be a key tool in helping the Welsh economy recover from the pandemic.
To receive support, a business must create a real job and not a six-month work placement or temporary cover and must have traded for more than six months in the private or third sector in Wales.
Don’t forget, says Cambrian Training, if a JGW recruit has impressed a business enough to earn a full-time job, imagine what he or she could achieve with further training and skills support, such as an apprenticeship.
To make the recruitment process even easier, Cambrian Training lists all vacancies on the JGW section of the Careers Wales website, its own website and promotes them on its social media channels. Work ready young people can then apply online.
Thousands of young people leaving school, college or university across Wales this summer are being advised to check out, online or on social media, the range of job vacancies available.
One business that has benefited from JGW is Confederate Chemicals in Newtown where operations manager John Hextall said “Confederate Chemicals has had a very positive experience with JGW.
“We had a new job in our laboratory and took on Nia-Faith Williams, a school leaver, who has turned out to be an excellent hire and is contributing to both the chemical and sales teams.
“In addition, we received funding of about £3,000 to help offset the employment costs. I would recommend the programme to any employer looking to create a sustainable new job aimed at someone under 25 years of age.”
Another company that has benefited from the programme is Recruit for Staff in Wrexham where director Paul Stevens said: “Jobs Growth Wales is certainly an opportunity that employers should consider, and the process is easy and quite straightforward.
“We were a bit dubious about the programme at first, but we found that there are some good, keen young people out there looking for opportunities.
“We are pleased with the funding support, as it does take a number of months to get people up to speed with our systems of work. We were keen to start increasing our internal headcount and thought the programme would be a cost-effective method of doing it.”
