Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced that apprenticeships are to be refocused on under-25s to encourage a reduction in youth unemployment.

Although apprenticeship figures have increased by 50%, reaching 442,700 in the 2010/11 academic year, it has been revealed that two in every five enrolments were by apprentices aged 25 or over. During the same period, youth unemployment has continued to increase, with the latest figures released surpassing the one million mark.

To counter this growing trend, the government has pledged money to incentivise employers to take on apprentices and encourage training within the workplace, whereby businesses with 50 employees or less will receive a payment of up to £1,500 for hiring an apprentice aged 16 – 24. Furthermore, the government has pledged to remove the red tape associated with the complex recruitment process.

Paul Davis, managing director of Perspective, commented: “It is encouraging to see the government looking to refocus their efforts to help tackle growing youth unemployment figures. Although apprenticeship figures have been steadily rising throughout the year, the majority of uptake has been within the adult sector and as such this has done little to reverse the growing unemployment trend.

“Hopefully the government’s refocusing efforts will once again reveal the importance of apprenticeships to the UK’s unemployed youths and will stimulate a reduction in unemployment figures.”