Your guide to Kickstart

We've recently been informed by the Department for Work & Pensions that the REC's bid to be a Kickstart gateway organisation has been approved!

It took a bit of time between submitting our application and approval, but this is good news. It means that approved REC members can now provide employment opportunities to young people out of work.   We feel passionately about supporting this cause, and I know members feel exactly the same.  Many of you will recall the "youth employment taskforce" we set up after the 2008/9 financial crash and we've carried on that vital work via our Future of Jobs Ambassadors, so the REC is no stranger to this agenda.

About the Kickstart scheme

Traditionally, young people are disproportionately affected by recessions.  They find it more difficult to get work on leaving education during a recession and often don't have the experience of other candidates when seeking work in a highly competitive, candidate-rich environment. 

This recession may have very different causes than most recessions (I mean, I'm sure the bubonic plague had an impact on the market but even the REC's records don't stretch back that far…) but the impact it has on business, unemployment and people seeking work, are very familiar - and must be tackled head on.

Under the Kickstart scheme, government will provide the wages (at the appropriate national living wage level) and some of the supporting employability costs for a 6 month work placement for a young person aged between 16 and 24 years old, who is on Universal Credit.

How to get involved in the scheme

As this is about being in receipt of public money, you have to be approved by government to offer a placement and get the funding.  DWP have also stipulated that you must be able to offer 30 placements within your business OR apply for the funding via an approved gateway organisation. The REC's approval as a gateway organisation means we can now put forward eligible REC members that want to offer a placement. 

There are then a couple of stages to go through for your placement opportunity to be approved.  To help you on this journey and decide if Kickstart is right for your business, we've prepared a guide to Kickstart.

The guide will tell you everything we know so far and we'll keep adding to this guide as more information becomes available.  The guide also lets you know how you can get involved.  Find out more here.