Over 4million people are expected to be unemployed as a result of the fall out from Covid 19. We are seeing this in our Power Platform community. We have experienced professionals who have been made redundant, and we have furlonteers who have been generously volunteering their skills now expecting to be made redundant once the scheme ends, so can no longer afford to continue to volunteer. This is creating an army of freelancers.
At the same time we have seen an explosion in opportunity, with businesses pivoting their offers and new businesses starting up, and new start-up scaling up.
Being made redundant can be confidence sapping, and having a vision to scale up without having the resources to do so can be frustrating. So we thought why not bring these two communities together? Match the recently redundant or those at risk, with the SMEs who are ready for growth.
We are seeking some grant funding to enable the SMEs to pay for these skills, to enable people to work with them, to help them grow. If they grow, they then have the potential to offer paid work as freelancers or offer employment, either part or full time. This grant will enable people to continue to support the SMEs.
£10,000 would pay for up to 500 hours of freelancers time and help 15 SMEs.
Freelancers would have certainty of income and a chance to build a relationship and potential job opportunity. SMEs would have the benefit of expertise and potential growth, and would recognise the value of these skilled individuals and be in a better position to offer paid employment.