These new plans will allow individuals to be linked to an agency rather than to a single employer, allowing them to perform multiple roles in more than one business sector. This will target industries with more flexible working patterns and will allow these sectors to spend more of their levy fund and have a stronger impact.

Flex-job apprenticeships are expected to begin in January 2022, but the Treasury announced that, as of July 2021, employers will be eligible to bid for money from the £7 million funds to set up new agencies.

The flexi-job proposal is based on the idea of portable apprenticeships, which was brought forward by the Chancellor in his last expenditure review. It is also believed that there will be an announcement in the near future about the potential of an additional £126 million to be added to the budget. This will be used to further increase the number of traineeships by an additional 40,000 in 2021/22. This budget will include £22 million to continue the employer incentive payment of £1,000 and the use of £111 million to try to triple the number of traineeships in the coming years.

The introduction of the changes to the financial incentive for the apprenticeships scheme is a great development in the apprenticeship industry. It is an inventive way to get employers more motivated to hire new apprentices. Many businesses will go against hiring an apprentice over a new full-time employee as they wish to provide tailored training, which is often costly. However, with these new incentives in place, it gives employers the opportunity to see what a difference having an apprentice on your team can lead to. With these changes, it allows employers to find apprentices that suit their company. Apprenticeships with Empentis are always tailored to the individual learner to ensure they build the skill set needed for the job. If you’d like any more information on apprenticeships, funding and courses, get in touch today.