'Golden hello' should include temps

21-Jan-2009 | By Julian May

The government should extend its £500m ‘golden hello’ scheme to get the unemployed into work or training. It should include temporary work and sponsorship to encourage the transfer of skills and candidate geographical mobility, recruiters claim.

Fred van der Tang, director of professional services at Randstad UK, was at the Jobs Summit where Gordon Brown announced the scheme to pay employers £2,500 for every person out of work for six months or more they employ or train. He welcomed the initiative but said it did not go far enough.

He told Recruiter: “Attaching a ‘golden hello’ to temp contracts would greatly enhance the scheme.

“There are half a million vacancies out there and recruiters have candidates on their books. The trouble is there are skills shortages and a big lack of geographical and skills mobility. I would urge the government to sponsor mobility as well through tax breaks or other premiums.”

Van der Tang said expanding partnership schemes, such as Local Employment Partnerships between Jobcentre Plus and recruiters, would help to fill vacancies and tackle skills shortages.

Kevin Green, chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, who also attended the Jobs Summit, told Recruiter that the scheme will benefit recruiters because agencies can “add significant value to help organisations through the plethora of grants and funding available”.

Green urged the government to consider the “10,000 recruitment businesses that need help and support the same as any other business”, when drawing up plans to bail out private companies to improve the flow of credit.