OPINION: MARK LOVELL
Employment and
enterprise
Local authorities are able to
bid for funding to create jobs
for young people, thanks to
resources made available in the
Budget. But this will need careful
planning, says Mark Lovell
A
lot of policy focus over the last few years
has been on more effective joining up
of employment and skills programmes.
A4e has been a strong advocate of this,
as we know we need to work harder to make a more
demand-responsive employment and skills market.
The future needs of business need to be better
served by the supply of relevant and appropriate
qualifications and competencies. Businesses need
to improve their planning for future workforce
needs, while individuals need more portable and
transferable skills, as well as developing a longer-
term view on career development.
Whilst much has been done in policy terms to
address this, there is still a long way to go to get
this working effectively at the front line. In broad
terms, however, the market is able to respond
with more flexibility to deliver according to the
needs of business and enable people entering the
labour market to enhance their skills at early-stage
employment. If this part of policy has a structure for
success, what next?
Right at the top of our agenda at the moment is
creating a much stronger link between employment
and enterprise. In a growing economy, active labour
market programmes become much more ‘job
fulfilment’ focused. With harder-to-help clients, the
onus is on working with them to tackle barriers,
equipping them with core skills, then assisting them
in identifying and securing work amongst a broader
range of opportunities.
In recession, job placement is important, but
more crucial is ‘job creation’. This requires a rethink
of strategies to link employment and enterprise
approaches. RDAs have moved the focus of their
A4eSum09 pp17 MarkLovell.indd 17
Mark Lovell believes that a more
demand-responsive employment
and skills market will become
crucial in the future.
regeneration initiatives to look more broadly at job
creation measures. We have local authorities able to
bid for youth work creation programmes following
the Budget. Local government is also able to look
at enterprise through a range of policy approaches,
which have been put in place over the last few years
but still require greater focus on implementation
(LEGI and LABGI for example).
The challenge we face in the UK economy
is to make ‘job creation’ a focused, sustainable
and economy enhancing strategy. We must not
create ‘make-work’ jobs in the hope this leads to
opportunity. Stakeholders need to work together
to stimulate economic development and enterprise
as part of the core focus of active labour market
initiatives.
The challenge we face in
the UK economy is to make ‘job
creation’ a focused, sustainable
and economy enhancing strategy
Mark Lovell, A4e executive chairman
This was the approach we had to take when we
started work in Israel – lending skills, enterprise
and employment initiatives into an integrated
offer to kick-start economic development. The
approach draws on our roots in the early Nineties,
working here with steel and coal communities
on employment programmes with integrated,
local service offers developed with the TECs and
Business Links at the time.
Creating new jobs is key to economic growth and,
as such, we need to work with stakeholders on this
area of our work. We need to equip jobseekers with
the tools to locate these opportunities and skills –
some traditional, some new in a changing economy
– to enter and progress in the workforce. Sounds
simple but this is a complicated and challenging
process, where global active labour market policies
are now moving. Collaboration and joint working
amongst stakeholders, supply chains and sectors is
more important than ever to accomplish this.
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