How can we make work work in Britain? With a ballooning welfare bill weighing down the public coffers, we’re in desperate need of a thriving job market if we’re going to unpick the stubborn issue of mass economic inactivity. But the UK’s latest labour force statistics, published last week, warn that the government is trying to rebuild on shaky foundations.
It’s difficult out there, particularly for jobseekers facing barriers like mental health issues or disability. Unemployment is nearing a five-year high. With wage growth cooling and hiring slowing, the job market seems to be caught in a kind of paralysis. Employers are sitting on their hands waiting for uncertain economic and political headwinds to blow through.
Those headwinds have swirled into something of the perfect storm. We’ve got a National Living Wage rise, a new Employment Rights Act on the horizon. The rapid evolution of AI capability is constantly changing the tempo of productivity. And many businesses are still reeling from last year’s big increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions.
All this has created a climate in which UK business can’t afford to take gambles when it comes to recruitment. One extra uncertainty employers don’t need is their own workforce, and many companies remain exasperated by the challenge of people taking jobs only to leave them quickly when problems arise. To make hiring worth the investment, hires need to stick.
To this end, recruitment needs a rethink, for the sake of both employers and jobseekers. People need greater support at every stage of their search for work. A regular drumbeat of engagement with a trusted job coach can change the game. This relationship offers an unparalleled environment for building the confidence and resilience skills vital for keeping a jobseeker in the job they secure.
The Big Issue’s innovative sustainable recruitment arm, Big Issue Recruit, is taking that one step further still, and continuing the job candidate/job coach relationship up to six months into employment. These regular check-ins support with resolving those teething problems that often crop up in a new job, as well as reminders of the confidence-building and resilience tools they built up with their job coach during their search for work. They also work with employers to ensure they’re getting the best out of their new hire. After three years of operation, Big Issue Recruit has helped keep 92% of its candidates retained in-post six months into employment, far outweighing the success rate of Jobcentres and other recruiters.
