Over 1,000 people, including 240 residents in East Finchley, Penge and Leyton, have engaged with JobsPlus, a new community-led approach to finding work and increasing earnings which is being piloted across England following the model’s success in the United States.
JobsPlus is being delivered in partnership with social landlords, as social housing residents are nearly twice as likely to be out of work as people living in other types of housing. One in four economically inactive people are also social housing residents, meaning this is a key group to support to achieve the Government’s 80 per cent employment rate target, and for its attempt to support the one million young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) into learning or earning.
Since July 2024, over 270 JobsPlus participants have moved into work across England. The pilots have shown early signs of success in reaching groups who are typically less likely to use existing employment services, including parents and carers, people with long-term health conditions and young people and people from a Black ethnic minority background.
JobsPlus is open to all working-age residents in a specific neighbourhood. Combined with using social housing providers to pilot JobsPlus, this means that support can be targeted to the needs and opportunities of the local area and its residents. JobsPlus helps to build a culture of work and pride in the community that also serves the Government’s ambitions to transform Britain’s neighbourhoods.
Research has shown stark local variations in health and job outcomes across the UK. The place-based focus of JobsPlus targets communities most in need of support, reaching those with significant disadvantages and where residents face complex barriers to employment. With the Government seeking to restore pride in Britain’s neighbourhoods, this evidence-led effort to build a culture of work at community-level represents a positive step.
Led by Learning and Work Institute (L&W) with funding from Department for Work and Pensions and Youth Futures Foundation, social landlords are coordinating services through on-site community hubs. Support is shaped by residents and delivered in partnership with other local organisations. Local volunteers champion the programme among their communities, and JobsPlus participants are also offered a financial incentive for finding and staying in work. In a departure from previous programmes, the pilot sites offer employment support to all working-age residents, with no additional eligibility criteria.
JobsPlus is currently expected to run until March 2026, with an interim evaluation published by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) in September 2025 showing positive emerging evidence of employment outcomes. The programme is backed by evidence in the United States, showing that it can lead to better, long-term employment outcomes for residents and for their children 20 years later.
L&W is leading the JobsPlus pilot programme in collaboration with Communities that Work and IES, with additional support from MDRC, the US-based research organisation behind the conception of JobsPlus. Youth Futures Foundation – the What Works Centre for youth employment, with a specific focus on marginalised young people – has partnered in designing a robust evaluation approach.
Learning and Work Institute is leading JobsPlus. Stephen Evans, Chief Executive, said:
“This is a proud moment for JobsPlus as our hyper-local approach to employment support engages over 1,000 people across England. Social housing residents often face complex barriers to work; closing inequalities in access to employment support to help more parents and carers, young people and people with long-term health conditions will be essential for the Government to achieve its ambition of an 80 per cent employment rate, as Learning and Work Institute has argued since 2022. This model is showing real promise to transform neighbourhoods and we look forward to watching it progress.”
The Department for Work and Pensions is co-funding JobsPlus. Minister for Employment Dame Diana Johnson said:
“We are determined to create opportunity across the country and break down barriers that prevent people from fulfilling their full potential.
“The innovative JobsPlus pilot is providing support for those who need it most and I’m delighted it has reached the milestone of engaging 1,000 people.
“Schemes like this complement our wider Get Britain Working reforms, where we’re driving economic growth in every local area and creating more opportunities for people to move into good, secure jobs.”
Youth Futures Foundation is co-funding JobsPlus. Barry Fletcher, CEO, said:
“With one in eight young people not in education, employment or training, it’s important that we find ways to ensure every young person can access meaningful opportunities, wherever they live. This milestone for JobsPlus is an encouraging step. Built on international evidence, the programme supports young people in communities with a high proportion of social housing, where many face deep-rooted barriers to work. We look forward to seeing how the programme develops and what locally shaped approaches can teach us about improving long-term outcomes for young people.”
Related