Analytical strategies for improving Third Sector employability services in the post COVID-19 recovery

Recent UK welfare reforms have established a punitive and highly conditional system that expects jobseekers to engage in mandatory work-related activities, failing which they are subjected to benefit sanctions and potential exclusion from mainstream services. The Salvation Army is a major third sector organisation that provides employability support to marginalised people through their 'Employment Plus' programme. It aims to help them secure sustained employment through various support interventions such as job search, skills training, etc. This ESRC open collaborative PhD is in close collaboration with The Salvation Army UK. It aims to use internal administrative data from Employment Plus to develop an example of data-driven strategies for improving third sector employability services.

The third sector plays an important role in supplementing statutory employability services. However, existing academic research on third sector employability services uses predominantly qualitative methods to discuss and analyse these programmes on a rather limited scale. Little is known about the population that accesses third sector services, the interventions used, and the factors associated with successful transitions to employment. Studying the demographic distribution of the population accessing this support is necessary to understand the wider impact of such services on society. An analysis of the Employment Plus data will be conducted to discuss the engagement of the participants with the programme and their demographic distribution. In addition, understanding the factors behind successful employment transitions would help determine the effect of specific interventions for different groups and tailor future interventions. Statistical methods will be used to identify the factors crucial to transitioning into employment. The findings will help understand the operational status of the Employment Plus programme and provide a data-driven evidence base for future service design.