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8. Employed Status
8.1 The MA programme is entirely employed status. Of the 40,000 MAs and Skillseekers - 38,400 currently have employed status (this is 96% of all trainees). Although we recognise that around 20% of all current Skillseekers are not employed, evidence from a recent Scottish Enterprise MA and Skillseekers evaluation indicates that one of the main reasons for this appears to be employers delaying employment to test a candidate's suitability. Although the use of a probationary period can be useful we do not believe that this requires a non employed status model.
8.2 We believe that the MA programme should retain employed status. A key element of the success of the MA programme with employers and individuals alike has been the use of this component. For individuals it provides an opportunity to earn while you learn and ensures that the employer is committed to the embedding of the training into the organisation. For employers it ensures freedom to recruit suitable candidates as well as allowing a degree of control over the applicability of the skills being developed.
What happens to those not yet ready for employment?
8.3 The MA programme provides an opportunity for all to gain the skills needed to prove competence in an occupation. We recognise that other interventions are needed in order to help an individual reach a point where they are ready to secure employment. We have learnt many lessons from the re-engineering Skillseekers pilots and these are starting to be embedded into the Get Ready for Work programme. This work is set to continue with the development of an improved vocational option. This is expected to further enhance the work component of the programme improving the prospects and job outcomes for young people. This new training model will be aimed at young people NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training) and will be initially targeted at 7 pilot areas (East Ayrshire, Dundee, Glasgow, Clackmannanshire, North Ayrshire, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire).
Proposal
All MAs will be employed for the duration of their training.
Specific Questions
16. Should all MAs have employed status? YES/NO
17. Please explain further the reasons for your answer, if necessary.
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