In their latest attempt to stimulate the flailing economy the government has announced a scheme to help the long term unemployed return to work. Gordon Brown plans to get 500,000 in training schemes or back to work, amidst fears that unemployment may rise close to the 3 million mark in the next twelve months as some research suggests.

This ambitious plan will be forged by incentivising employers; offering them up to £2500 for every person taken on for training that has been unemployed for more than six months. In addition, £500 pound in training grants is to be offered to parents and carers who have been out of the employed economy for more than five years. Spending for the scheme is budgeted at £500m.

This comes in the face of numerous lay-offs by large organisations up and down the UK, and it’s hoped that this ‘golden hello’ scheme will help turn the tide. It’s a positive intervention by the government and has been welcomed by business leaders and organisations who believe the key to the UK’s long term survival lies in a more highly skilled and diverse workforce.

If you’re organisation is considering taking advantage of this opportunity, you might be advised to put those staff in charge of recruitment on a management training course of their own, as recruitment remains an area in which many managers lack proper skills and tools to carefully select the best candidates.