Filling the digital skills gap for SMEs – is Kickstart another square peg?

It’s a nearly a year now since the launch of the Kickstart job-creation scheme, the Chancellor’s £2-billion initiative to fund salaries for young people aged 16-24 for 6 months. Some 120,000 jobs had been created by the beginning of this year, according to the DWP. However, six months later less than 15% had been filled.

A picture is emerging that suggests employers have doubts – about the length of the hiring process and suitability of applicants (who must be on Universal Credit). The government has made some improvements, such as removing the need for small business to apply via a gateway organisation. But a frequent criticism is that Kickstart was never designed for small businesses in the first place. The large supermarkets and hospitality chains have been the main beneficiaries, arguably by rebadging thousands of relatively low-skilled positions to fit eligibility requirements.  

Kickstart runs until the end of the year. Should it be renewed? Or are there better ways to incentivise employers to hire young workers who have little or no work experience?

A significant barrier for employers is uncertainty about the trainee’s readiness for work. Turning up on time, good written and verbal communications, conscientiousness, and general ‘presentation’ are essential employability skills that schools and colleges should be able to nurture. Targeted funding for the education sector would reassure employers that college-leavers can be a good fit from day one.

Removing basic employability training from Kickstart would allow employers to focus on applicants’ potential to contribute to the business. This requires careful thought. What responsibilities could they realistically take on in 3 or 6 months’ time that would directly impact profitability? How can they be supported to develop the skills they need? How can these skills help the trainee progress in their career, both within and beyond the organisation?   

One useful aspect of Kickstart today is that the employer can verify that they’ve hired a young person who was otherwise at risk of long-term unemployment. Training providers who share the employer’s values and commitment can then structure their offers on this basis.

Linguicity Training offers the following discounted courses, not only for your Kickstarter trainee, but for any of your employees that attend the course with them (up to 12 attendees maximum per course).

• Introduction to Microsoft Teams for employee productivity & governance
• Introduction to Microsoft 365 Administration for the IT helpdesk
• Excel best practice and skills brush-up

All three courses are suitable for new entrants to the workplace who have a knack and enthusiasm for technology. They don’t have to be in IT roles – any employee needs to feel confident with Teams these days and working with spreadsheets is also a highly transferable skill.

Cost is just £120 per learner per course. If the group has more than 6 people then this rate is further discounted to just £80 per learner per course.

For more information, please contact: [email protected] 07981031954 www.linguicity.co.uk