1. Entities regardless of legal status, registered in the Employers’ Register of the Social Insurance Services and operating in areas controlled by the Republic of Cyprus.

2. Employers may be natural or legal persons, of public or private law.

3. Enterprises carrying out economic or non-economic activity, as long as they do not violate competition rules.

4. The employer must pay the specified fee to the Human Resources Development Fund for employees participating in the program.

5. Self-employed persons may participate only for the training of their employees, not for personal training

Non-beneficiaries:

1. The Government of the Republic and Public Law Organizations.

2. Local Government Authorities.

3. Employers active in sectors exempted from Regulation (EU) 2023/2831, such as:

• Primary production of fisheries and aquaculture.

• Agriculture (primary production).

• Certain agricultural processing activities.

The plan covers part of the costs associated with the four-month training and includes:

1. Graduate salary for the 6 months of training.

2. Cost of a mentor, who is responsible for the training.

1. Monthly grant amount: €1,460 for each month of the six-month training.

2. Maximum total amount: €8,760 for the entire training period.

3. Minimum gross salary:

• The employer is obliged to pay at least €1,160/month for the 6 months of training and the following 2 months of employment without a grant.

4. The HRDA pays the grant after completion of:

6 months of training, and

2 months of continuous employment of the graduate by the employer without a grant.

For the employer:

1. To have hired the graduate in a permanent and full-time position

2. To submit an application for participation in the scheme within 2 months of hiring.

3. To continue to employ the unemployed person for 2 additional months after training.

4. To have not made any staff reductions in the last 8 months prior to the application.

5. To pay a minimum wage ≥ €1,160/month or higher, as defined in collective agreements.

6. Maximum number of unemployed persons admitted per year (e.g. 2 for up to 4 employees, 20 for 200+ employees)

For the Graduate:

1. To have completed a higher education study programme of at least 3 years.

2. To be under 30 years of age on the date of submission of the application.

3. If he/she has relevant work experience, it should not exceed 8 months.

4. He/she should not have successfully participated in another similar training program in the past