Scheme for the Employment and Training of Tertiary Education Graduates

Companies receive a wage subsidy for employing newly graduated, inexperienced recruits to fill in critical vacancies. The graduates undergo a 6-month on-the-job training programme which is monitored by the HRDA. The enterprises must retain the graduates for a further 2 months-period before they can apply for subsidy (from HRDA). The subsidy covers the 6-month period of training. The employer is obliged to pay the graduate a minimum gross monthly salary of EUR 950. In return, the employer receives from HRDA, at the end of the eight (8) month retainment period, up to EUR 1 100 monthly subsidies for the six months duration of the training. The subsidy/grant is paid by HRDA entirely from its own HRDA fund (no co-funding from any source). The exact amount of subsidy can reach up to 80% of eligible costs which cover the graduate's and the supervisor's salary costs and any other training-related expenses. Graduates under the age of 30 who completed successfully a course of at least 3 years of study in a tertiary education establishment are eligible to participate in the programme provided they do not possess working experience of more than 8 months in the field of the prospective job. Graduates can only participate in the programme once. There are limits to the number of participants/per year in the scheme according to the size of the companies.