The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, yesterday announced a number of significant measures with the aim of bolstering the UK economy.  These were wide-ranging and included several employment-specific proposals.  These include:

• Employers will receive a “job retention bonus” of £1,000 for every worker they bring back from furlough and who they continue to employ through January 2021.  Employees must earn at least £520 per month to be eligible.  Nine million workers have been furloughed, so if they were all retained, the cost to the Government would be £9 billion.
• The Chancellor announced a “kickstart scheme” with the aim of creating “hundreds of thousands” of jobs for young people.  This will subsidise six-month work placements for 16-24-year-olds on Universal Credit.
• The Government will give employers £1,000 for each 16-24 year old to whom they offer a traineeship.  Traineeships will provide maths, English and CV writing skills as well as 90 hours of unpaid work experience.
• Employers will be paid £2,000 for every apprentice they take on (£1,500 for each apprentice over the age of 25).