46 job contracts signed in first weeks of €8m EU-funded programme
Forty-six contracts have been signed and €140,000 committed by the Employment and Training Corporation in the eight weeks since the launch of the €8 million Employment Aid Programme financed by the European Social Fund, Raphael Scerri, senior manager...
Forty-six contracts have been signed and €140,000 committed by the Employment and Training Corporation in the eight weeks since the launch of the €8 million Employment Aid Programme financed by the European Social Fund, Raphael Scerri, senior manager at the ETC's Employment Services Division told The Times Business.
The scheme, which runs to 2013, seeks to integrate disadvantaged people into the labour market by granting attractive subsidies to employers' wage costs.
Seven target groups include people under 25 who have yet to find regular employment two years after completing full-time education; people seeking to re-enter the job market after being away from work or education for at least two years (particularly through difficulty balancing work and family life); single adults caring for dependants; people without secondary level education who have recently been made redundant or served with a redundancy notice; over-50s who are unemployed or are about to lose their jobs; the long-term unemployed; and people with a disability.
The recently signed contracts involve 27 men and 19 women; just over half are Gozitan. Posts range from administration manager to kitchen hand in sectors like manufacturing, retail and tourism.
Mr Scerri said the scheme has seen an overwhelming, sustained response with an average of six requests a day received since the February 20 launch - 212 requests for information have resulted in 120 "hand-holding" exercises with marketing agency Impetus. Seventy-three applications have been submitted by employers from a cross-section of small and medium enterprises and even self-employed seeking to recruit 89 people in new positions. Mr Scerri pointed out that, in most cases, employers identified candidates for the posts themselves.
There are strict eligibility criteria governing the programme: "The scheme is particularly useful to disadvantaged job seekers who will be somewhat easier to employ in the current downturn," Mr Scerri explained. "However, this is a tool to promote employment and organisations must be open to recruitment. Employers who have made even a part-timer redundant in the previous 12 months are ineligible to apply for a subsidy to employ a member of the various client groups for a year."
Employers who wish to participate in the scheme must be Malta-based and offer brand new vacancies, rather than employing replacements for staff who have been let go. Eligible employers will be entitled to between 50 to 75 per cent of wage costs (including National Insurance contributions) for between 26 and 39 weeks. If a person with a disability is recruited, employers receive a three-year wage subsidy amounting to 75 per cent in the first year and 60 per cent in the following two. Gozitan organisations who engage Gozitans or residents of the sister island are granted a wage subsidy for a year.
"The subsidies are far higher than the ETC has ever granted in its 19 years," Mr Scerri pointed out. "Our schemes usually offer 50 per cent of the minimum wage, so this programme is very attractive. Participating employers will be monitored monthly to ensure that the conditions of employment are respected. They are expected to retain their business' wage structure and the candidates' health and safety and working hour norms must be safeguarded."
Businesses may apply to employ up to 10 people a year throughout the scheme. However, there is no capping for Gozitan organisations or Malta-based employers who are engaging people made redundant in the past six months.
Employers are reimbursed the respective percentage of the wage costs after 12 months from the date of engagement. The recruits must be retained in employment for a further 26 weeks after the subsidised employment period. Persons with a disability must be kept on the pay roll for an additional year after the subsidised three years are up.
Comprehensive information about the Employment Aid Programme is available at www.etc.gov.mt. Alternatively, programme coordinators may be contacted on 2220 1217/9 or 2220 1235.
The scheme, which runs to 2013, seeks to integrate disadvantaged people into the labour market by granting attractive subsidies to employers' wage costs.
Seven target groups include people under 25 who have yet to find regular employment two years after completing full-time education; people seeking to re-enter the job market after being away from work or education for at least two years (particularly through difficulty balancing work and family life); single adults caring for dependants; people without secondary level education who have recently been made redundant or served with a redundancy notice; over-50s who are unemployed or are about to lose their jobs; the long-term unemployed; and people with a disability.
The recently signed contracts involve 27 men and 19 women; just over half are Gozitan. Posts range from administration manager to kitchen hand in sectors like manufacturing, retail and tourism.
Mr Scerri said the scheme has seen an overwhelming, sustained response with an average of six requests a day received since the February 20 launch - 212 requests for information have resulted in 120 "hand-holding" exercises with marketing agency Impetus. Seventy-three applications have been submitted by employers from a cross-section of small and medium enterprises and even self-employed seeking to recruit 89 people in new positions. Mr Scerri pointed out that, in most cases, employers identified candidates for the posts themselves.
There are strict eligibility criteria governing the programme: "The scheme is particularly useful to disadvantaged job seekers who will be somewhat easier to employ in the current downturn," Mr Scerri explained. "However, this is a tool to promote employment and organisations must be open to recruitment. Employers who have made even a part-timer redundant in the previous 12 months are ineligible to apply for a subsidy to employ a member of the various client groups for a year."
Employers who wish to participate in the scheme must be Malta-based and offer brand new vacancies, rather than employing replacements for staff who have been let go. Eligible employers will be entitled to between 50 to 75 per cent of wage costs (including National Insurance contributions) for between 26 and 39 weeks. If a person with a disability is recruited, employers receive a three-year wage subsidy amounting to 75 per cent in the first year and 60 per cent in the following two. Gozitan organisations who engage Gozitans or residents of the sister island are granted a wage subsidy for a year.
"The subsidies are far higher than the ETC has ever granted in its 19 years," Mr Scerri pointed out. "Our schemes usually offer 50 per cent of the minimum wage, so this programme is very attractive. Participating employers will be monitored monthly to ensure that the conditions of employment are respected. They are expected to retain their business' wage structure and the candidates' health and safety and working hour norms must be safeguarded."
Businesses may apply to employ up to 10 people a year throughout the scheme. However, there is no capping for Gozitan organisations or Malta-based employers who are engaging people made redundant in the past six months.
Employers are reimbursed the respective percentage of the wage costs after 12 months from the date of engagement. The recruits must be retained in employment for a further 26 weeks after the subsidised employment period. Persons with a disability must be kept on the pay roll for an additional year after the subsidised three years are up.
Comprehensive information about the Employment Aid Programme is available at www.etc.gov.mt. Alternatively, programme coordinators may be contacted on 2220 1217/9 or 2220 1235.