One of the most successful packages of support to help non-employed young people into paid job opportunities – Jobs Growth Wales – has been extended for another year, with 4,000 places issued by Welsh Government for business to take advantage of over the next 12 months.

This work-based learning programme, operated through Welsh Government and part-financed by the European Social Fund, offers 16 to 24-year-olds jobs for six months, guaranteeing them paid work experience for between 25 and 40 hours a week, enabling them to enter sustained employment including, where appropriate, an apprenticeship opportunity.

But JGW is also very good news for business owners, particularly those in the SME market, as it covers the cost of a minimum wage salary and the employer’s National Insurance contribution – as well as providing the business with the perfect opportunity to mould a potentially-valuable new member of staff in its own image.

We at Acorn have been provided with 482 of the new tranche of Jobs Growth Wales places across 14 local authorities in Wales to support both eligible employers and young people between now and April 2015. Since the programme first began we have placed 852 young people into work, scoring an 82 per cent success rate in securing 751 of them into sustained employment.

Jobs Growth Wales has clearly been one of the main reasons why the Welsh economy has not only started to perform strongly, but the nation’s employment rate is performing better than any other region of the UK.

It is an excellent opportunity for small businesses, in particular, to grow while not taking any unnecessary risks and, at the same time, creating a new employee who can get to know and understand that business and very quickly become productive.

Acorn has set up a dedicated hotline for Jobs Growth Wales information on 01633 674555, or e-mail jgwsupport@acornpeople.com