Employers have recommended that reform of financial support for new recruits is needed as part of any future workforce strategy under a new government.
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), working with the Institute for Employment Studies (IES), asked employers in a survey what types of support they would find most useful for future Department for Work and Pensions policies around supporting people into work.
Employers chose priorities that included help with skills training and easier one-stop access to government employment schemes.
The top priority for employers was for a reformed employment service to provide funding to new recruits to help them overcome barriers such as transport, childcare or work clothes. There was particularly high support for this among small (0-49 workers) and large (250-plus workers) employers.
The results reinforced how the cost-of-living crisis was seen by employers as an obstacle to getting economically inactive people into work and how they feel the Flexible Support Fund, which is offered by Jobcentres, is failing in some regards.
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The joint second most common options chosen was “support to identify and access skills training”, and “a service that is open and accessible to all those who want to change job as well as those who are out of work”.
The next most common option chosen as a top priority was making a reformed publicly funded employment service a single point of contact for employers that acts as a gateway to a range of public schemes. The REC said this finding suggested that the system was too complex now and was putting off employers engaging with DWP schemes.
“Support on achieving more diverse and inclusive recruitment,” was the next most popular top priority.
The results have led the REC and IES to call for a trial to make the existing Flexible Support Fund an entitlement for those returning to work after caring, ill health or having been out of work for more than a year, and for travel costs and workwear to be reimbursed where needed.
REC deputy chief executive Kate Shoesmith said: “Jobcentre Plus customers need to build their confidence to start a new job and sometimes, that comes from addressing the seemingly small things that can be barriers to work – like how you will get to work or afford the kit you need. Employers are clear that the option of a financial boost to help with travel, potential childcare costs and clothes should be more widely available, publicised and easier to claim.
“Any welfare reform to employment services should be part of long overdue efforts to draw up a coherent workforce plan for the UK, that helps us overcome the acute labour shortages that persist in many sectors. The success of our partnership on Restart shows what can be achieved when the public and private sector work together and where each provider plays to their strengths to deliver what they do best.”
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Tony Wilson, director, Institute for Employment Studies, said: “Issues with the affordability and flexibility of childcare and transport in particular are continuing to act as barriers for people who are out of work, want to work but struggling to get back in. The good news though is that we can do something about this, in particular by increasing and publicising the funding available through local Jobcentres.”
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