The Employment Incentive Programme was developed by Stirling Council’s Employability and Adult Learning Team, in partnership with other community planning partners and businesses within the local area, to support an increase in the employment and training of young people and assist them in reaching positive destinations.
At a recent meeting the Council’s Finance and Economy Committee heard that since the pilot began in late 2016, 14 local organisations have engaged with the Council and nine young people have registered, with two already having commenced employment with associated support.
Seven young people are scheduled to commence employment between January and March 2015 and it is anticipated that the pilot programme will deliver 25 workplace opportunities overall.
Ed Gibbon, Team Leader for Employability and Adult Learning, said: “The Employment Incentive is providing a great opportunity for young people to progress and further develop their skills and experience in a range of different employment fields. It’s great to see the young people’s confidence grow in the workplace.”
Finance and Economy Convenor Neil Benny said: “This is a superb scheme which gives opportunities to our young people and our businesses to have a high value job in the local economy. This Council has been at the forefront of economic development and diversification and getting better results for our young people. I am very proud to have brought this scheme forward and helped our businesses and our young people to flourish."
The implementation of the programme demonstrates that the opportunities provided are valued by local young people and local organisations. Further, learning from the implementation of the programme and reference to the Forth Valley Regional Skills Assessment November 2014 suggests that widening the programme to cater for the re-skilling of 24-30 year olds not currently in employment would further benefit the local economy and employment statistics.