From full employment to employability: a new deal for Britain’s unemployed?

Abstract

Britain's New Labour Government has radically shifted its policy aims away from securing traditional full employment towards the improvement of``employability''. This paper briefly assesses what is meant by employability and how the Government has integrated its`s upply side'' approach to the unemployed with the stricter benefit regime it inherited from its Conservative predecessor. It describes the various New Deal and area-based employment programmes that have been introduced during an intense phase of policy development and experimentation and outlines the immediate impact they have had. The Government's long-term aim is to build on this experience and create a``work-based welfare state'' for all those of working age who receive state benefits. In conclusion, the paper highlights some of the weaknesses of the new strategy and draws out the implications that existing evaluations of active labour market programmes have for the likely impact of the New Deals.

Employability perceptions: Nature, determinants, and implications for health and well-being

“…The phenomenon of employability has been referred to in various contexts in the literature, such as in research studies investigating how graduate students should enter the labour market (Harvey, 2001;Knight & Yorke, 2004), how to get the unemployed back to work (Finn, 2000;McArdle, Waters, Briscoe, & Hall, 2007), or how to best establish the disabled in the labour market (Bricout & Bentley, 2000). More recently, employability has been increasingly used in the context of how employed people are to stay competitive in the labour market (e.g.…”

“…However, during the last decade, employability has gradually gained more attention in policy-making forums and in research literature (e.g. Finn, 2000;Forrier & Sels, 2003a). When the European Commission laid out a new employment strategy for the member states in 1997, employability was considered to be one of the four key areas for increasing employment in Europe (the other three were the strengthening of entrepreneurship, adaptability, and equal opportunities) (European Commission, 1997).…”

“…When the European Commission laid out a new employment strategy for the member states in 1997, employability was considered to be one of the four key areas for increasing employment in Europe (the other three were the strengthening of entrepreneurship, adaptability, and equal opportunities) (European Commission, 1997). In addition, several European countries have made employability a central theme in their policy making, such as Great Britain (Finn, 2000;Garavan, 1999) and the Netherlands (Meager et al, 2001). In these countries, employability has become the focus in their attempts to get different marginalised groups, such as young people and long-term unemployed, (back) into the labour market.…”

Stability and Satisfaction at Work During the Spanish Economic Crisis

“…A worker's employability improves if he or she becomes more valuable in the labour market. Employability is thus a nontraditional form of job security (Finn, 2000;Truch, 2001;Stone, 2001;Scholarios et al, 2008;De Cuyper et al, 2011).…”

Evaluación del impacto del esfuerzo formativo en la empleabilidad de los trabajadores en el contexto del modelo formativo tripartito español

“…• Finn (2000): Habilidad para "ser empleado". Se puntualizan tres elementos: obtener un empleo inicial, la habilidad para mantenerlo y la habilidad para movilizarse hacia otros empleos.…”