Skillnets, the national training and upskilling body, has announced a €500,000 training fund aimed at private sector companies. Skillnets currently funds and facilitates training through 55 networks of companies in a range of sectors and regions. Each network delivers training relevant to the needs of specific industries and member companies.
Skillnets, the national training and upskilling body, has announced a €500,000 training fund aimed at private sector companies. Skillnets currently funds and facilitates training through 55 networks of companies in a range of sectors and regions. Each network delivers training relevant to the needs of specific industries and member companies.
To date, Skillnets has facilitated over 60,000 Irish enterprises to upskill over 275,000 employees. Under the fund, Skillnets will make grants available to new ‘training networks’ of companies to pilot the delivery of training. Successful applicants will be required to provide matched funding of at least 50% of all costs associated with training delivery.
Alan Nuzum, CEO of Skillnets, said the organisation was focusing on the need to preserve jobs and create new jobs through industry-led training interventions. “As part of our strategy to respond to changing labour market needs, we are supporting companies to deliver training that enables growth and expansion into other markets, and helps to cross-skill and upskill employees and job-seekers,” he said.
Under this round, funding will be provided for training activities from 1 June to 31 December 2013. During that period, supports will also be provided for training networks to ensure they can avail of additional funding streams in future years to secure their sustainability. Paul Sweetman, director of ICT Ireland and the Irish Software Association, said: “The funding available is crucial in enabling many companies to upskill their workforce in the face of strong international competition for projects that require high level skills.
“The training programmes developed are fully industry-led, and this is one of the keys to their success. The Skillnets model allows for the creation and development of training programmes that may not have existed before and that are completely relevant to current industry needs.” Networks hoping to receive funding under the new round must complete an online registration form by 31 March before then submitting a complete application by 30 April.
Full details of the current Skillnets funding round are available on Skillnets’ website.
Source: TechCentral – Skillnets Opens Applications for €500,000 Training Fund
