Employment programme launched as planned redundancies increase

These figures were disclosed to the BBC by the Insolvency Service, following a freedom of information request.

In a bid to help those out of work, for at least three months, the government introduced JETS (Job Entry Targeted Support), a new employment programme to support those left jobless due to COVID-19, on October 5.

JETS will see the Department for Work and Pensions ramp up support for claimants to ensure those put forward for the scheme have access to tailored, flexible support to quickly get back into employment.

Prior to this, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) called on the government to give more training and employability support to the many people who have lost their jobs or who are made redundant over the winter.

It called for government to:

• Reform the apprenticeship levy to make it more flexible so firms can use it for other forms of accredited training and skills development, including for employees working reduced hours under the Job Support Scheme, or for those being made redundant;
• Invest £1bn in enhancing the Jobcentre Plus Rapid Response service to fund bespoke sector-based training and employability support for up to 250,000 workers who are made redundant;
• Provide funding to enable small and medium sized employers using the Job Support Scheme to use online training to develop the skills of their workers on reduced hours under the scheme when they are not working.