Why Short-Term Employment Programmes Produce Short-Term Results — and What to Do Instead.
By Upturn Policy & Practice Team · October 2024
Employment support in the UK has, for decades, been designed around a relatively simple model: identify unemployed people, provide them with a time-limited package of support, and measure success by whether they enter employment. The assumption embedded in this model is that the primary challenge is getting into work — and that once this hurdle is cleared, people are on their own.
For people facing straightforward barriers to employment — a recent redundancy, a skills gap in a buoyant labour market — this model can be adequate. But for the individuals that Upturn typically supports — those facing complex, overlapping and often deeply entrenched barriers — it consistently fails.
What the Evidence Shows
The research is unambiguous. People with complex barriers who enter employment through short-term support programmes are significantly more likely to leave that employment within the first three months than those who receive sustained, relationship-based support. In-work poverty — the condition of being employed but still unable to meet basic needs — is at historically high levels. And many of those who do sustain employment do so in low-paid, insecure roles that offer little prospect of progression.
The current model, in other words, creates employment statistics. It does not reliably create social mobility.
The Upturn Alternative
At Upturn, we have built our People programmes around a fundamentally different premise: that the most important moment in an employment journey is not when someone gets a job, but the six months that follow. This is when relationships with employers need to be managed, when unexpected challenges arise, and when people most need someone in their corner.
Our post-placement support — including regular check-ins, rapid response to in-work difficulties, employer liaison and access to ongoing development opportunities — is not an optional extra. It is central to our delivery model, because it is central to achieving outcomes that last.
What Commissioners and Funders Can Do
The evidence for sustained support is strong. What is needed is a commissioning and funding environment that makes it viable — one that measures success at 12 months, not 12 weeks, and that values the depth and quality of relationships alongside the volume of entries into employment.
We are committed to working with commissioners and funders who share this vision — designing programmes that invest in people for the long term and that create the conditions for genuine, lasting social mobility.
