The Manufacturing Technology Centre's SME salary support scheme and doubled Government incentives announced in the Budget mean that MTC employer partners can receive up to £8,200 for hiring a new engineering apprentice.
In the Budget, the government doubled and extended the financial incentives available to support employers who create new jobs for apprentices, incentivising workforce growth and helping to minimise unemployment.
As part of the Chancellor’s plans to aid the UK economy’s COVID-19 recovery, businesses will now receive a bonus payment of £3,000 per new apprentice hired until September 30, 2021, regardless of age. This is in addition to the £1,000 payment for apprentices aged 16 to 18, meaning that some employers will receive a total of £4,000.
Firms can already access of a range of funds and financial incentives to support the employment of an apprentice. UK employers with a payroll of more than £3million can use their apprenticeship levy to cover training costs, while eligible smaller businesses can access a levy transfer fund created through an exclusive partnership between MTC Apprenticeships and Lloyds Bank to fund their apprentice’s training. In addition, SMEs with fewer than 50 employees can apply to receive up to a further £4,200 towards their apprentice’s wages through MTC Apprenticeships’ SME Salary Support Scheme.
As well as paying for the apprenticeship training, this extra funding now takes the available support up to a maximum of £8,200, significantly offsetting the cost of employing an apprentice for the first year of their programme.
Managing director of MTC Apprenticeships, David Hughes MBE, said, "Apprentices are set to be instrumental in supporting Britain’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. As the country begins to re-open after the third national lockdown, manufacturers need to ensure their workforces can meet demand and support their future growth. Announcing the support package during his 2021 Budget statement, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said, 'Protecting, creating and supporting jobs remains my highest priority. We want businesses to hire new apprentices, so we’re paying them more to do it. We’re taking what works to get people into jobs and making it better.' ”
David Hughes added, "The improved scheme is a fantastic opportunity for businesses of all sizes to take advantage of the benefits apprentices offer.
Apprenticeships are already a cost effective way to attract enthusiastic, motivated, new talent, helping businesses to future proof their workforce and reinvigorate current staff, as well as enabling firms to retain existing expertise by passing on knowledge and skills to the next generation. The MTC’s advanced manufacturing apprenticeship programmes include exposure to disruptive technologies and new ways of working, empowering apprentices to help their employers to accelerate innovation and increase productivity.”
After receiving a record number of applications last year, and with a pool of top quality, pre-screened candidates ready to be matched with prospective employers, the MTC Apprenticeships team of training and funding experts is primed to support manufacturers to attract, secure and fund the best new talent for their business’s future.