Impact Assessment of National Skills Development Strategy II: the impact of work experience grants on learner placement: an investigation into the measurement of the effectiveness of work experience grants

Abstract

Work experience grants within the National Skills Development Strategy Phase II represent one type of intervention that aims to promote the employability of members of the labour force by providing individuals with access to work experience without imposing requirements of permanent employment on employers. Potential benefits are available to both individual learners and employers. Learners are able to obtain work experience, which provides opportunities for the practical implementation in a real world working environment of theoretical knowledge, the assimilation of behaviours and attitudes required in the world of work and, potentially, greater clarity on career objectives. Employers, on the other hand, are able to access this pool of labour at a subsidised cost. However, perhaps one of the most substantive employer benefits of WEG programmes is the opportunity afforded to employers to evaluate potential employees, reducing some of the informational asymmetries employers face. The aim of this research is the measuring the impact of work experience grants on the placement rates of graduates. Unfortunately, a lack of suitable data has prevented the analysis of placement rates. Section 2 discusses the methodology and objectives of the revised research plan, and details the structure of the report.