The overwhelming perception is not that the employment subsidy component of the learnerships is necessarily ineffective, but rather that the administrative requirements around the learning component of the programme are excessive. Many firms indicate a willingness to expand enrolment of learners and/or trainees if the administrative burden were reduced. An expanded wage subsidy could in fact build on the leamerships, with simplified administration. Another way of addressing the substitution problem would be to apply the wage subsidy to net rather than gross hires (perhaps limited to workers below an age ceiling), although this would require a monitoring mechanism, which would add complexity.