Creating sustainable employment opportunities for the unemployed

Abstract

This article addresses challenges associated with creating sustainable employment opportunities for the unemployed and encouraging employer engagement in skills development and utilisation more generally. Survey and case study analysis of an initiative introduced by New Labour in the National Health Service England (NHS) provides evidence of employer reluctance to engage with a policy which addresses social exclusion and unemployment. Reasons are presented for this policy to implementation gap. This behaviour, in a buoyant economy, underlines a broader concern that voluntarism will be insufficient in the current economic climate to encourage employers more generally to adopt longer-term workforce development strategies. This reluctance to engage is compared with those NHS employers who were motivated to develop intermediate labour markets for the unemployed with explicit links to their internal labour markets, thereby providing opportunities for work experience and job progression. Implications are drawn from these contrasting behaviours as to how the state can encourage more employers to adopt progressive practices.

Keywords:

• unemployment
• sustainable employment
• employability
• NHS
• new labour
• healthcare management

Acknowledgements

This article is based on research gathered during the study of skills development activities commissioned by the Department of Health, Policy Research Programme. The full research team comprises Anne McBride, Annette Cox, Stephen Mustchin, Marilyn Carroll, Paula Hyde, Elena Antonacopoulou, Kieran Walshe and Helen Woolnough. The article represents the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the Department of Health. The authors would like to thank Caroline Lloyd, Ian Greener, Miguel Martinez-Lucio and Paula Hyde for their comments on earlier drafts.

Notes

1. Ethics approval for the project was granted in February and September 2004, with research clearance obtained at each site.

2. Funds were available for discrete parts, e.g. £150 Learning Accounts for those without NVQs 2, 3 (Skills Escalator Level 3); and nurse training secondments (Skills Escalator Level 4).