The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) has had the first tranche of applications approved by the Government under the Kickstart Scheme for 90 new roles in the recruitment sector.

The roles are varied and include CV administrators, trainee consultants and digital marketers.

Kickstart – part of the ‘Plan for Jobs’ scheme – will create thousands of new jobs, subsidised for 25 hours per week to support young people (aged 16-24), who are at risk of long-term unemployment. To be eligible for the support, an employer must create at least 30 new job placements. APSCo was approved as a Kickstart Gateway organisation last year and collated the vacancies from members to allow them access to the scheme.

“We are delighted that the first tranche has now been approved and that those members will start to receive CVs in the next few weeks,” said Ann Swain, APSCo’s Chief Executive.

“We felt it important to offer members who wanted to get involved but who just didn’t have the vacancy numbers the ability to participate.”

Richard Kelly, Managing Director of Kelly Services UK, says: “The support APSCo has provided in helping hire young people seeking exciting new career opportunities is incredibly valuable. The recruitment sector can provide fantastic opportunities for the emerging generation of the workforce, and we’re excited to begin welcoming new hires to the team.”

“Creating opportunities for young people to enter our industry is something we’ve always been passionate about, and this really aligns to that.”, says Toni Harney, Global Head of Talent Acquisition at Goodman Masson.

“We’ve been working hard to prepare an onboarding journey and training plan that allows the people who join us to have a great experience and get the most out of their time with us.”

APSCo made a second application for a further 50 roles from 10 members in December, and a third application is already being prepared.