Commissioning differently: our mould-breaking initiative shows a new approach to helping over 50s into work is possible
The government is currently reviewing the future of the Jobs and Careers Service and setting out ambitions for how to tackle economic inactivity through the Keep Britain Working review.
This creates an important opportunity to rethink what good employment support looks like for people in their 50s and 60s, writes Elaine Smith, our Head of Age-friendly Employment.
For nearly a decade, Ageing Better and Greater Manchester have worked together to test new approaches to supporting older residents who are out of work. The challenge is significant: many people aged 50+ want to work, but face multiple barriers including poor health, caring responsibilities, skills gaps, loss of confidence, or ageism in recruitment. Too often mainstream employment support has not been designed with these realities in mind, meaning that people over 50 suffered worse outcomes in finding work and accessing support. Our work in Greater Manchester set out to change that.
Our new summary report sets out a long-term, person-first approach to commissioning employment support. It covers our initial work around identifying local need, the testing and refinement of ideas, the commissioning process and the piloting and evaluating of a new service across the region. The report looks back at what we have achieved in Greater Manchester and offers a blueprint for how other strategic authorities could approach the issue.
Support to Succeed was delivered across Greater Manchester, with a targeted offer to over 50s to help us better understand what good support could look like for this age group. We focused on those not engaging with other employment services who are often seen as “harder to help” and who haven’t found other services to meet their needs. The findings from our evaluation show the need for a model which offers people over 50 holistic, person-led support in trusted community settings. More than 1,500 people aged 50+ engaged in the programme - 30% above target.
Importantly, success on this programme was not measured by job outcomes alone, but rather progression towards employment and improvements in people’s lives more widely. Participants reported significant improvements in wellbeing, confidence and work readiness. Nine per cent of participants moved into employment despite the programme not being designed as a traditional “work-first” model. Considering that the average length of time out of work for people 50+ on the programme was more than five years, this is an incredible achievement.
There are wider lessons too. Reaching people over 50 who aren’t in work or engaging with jobcentres takes time. It requires face-to-face outreach, trusted community networks and funding models that recognise “distance travelled” rather than immediate job entry. It means valuing progress in confidence, health and social connection - not just in getting any job. If we want people to stay in work and reduce pressures on wider services, then we need to make time to prepare them properly.
As national reform gathers pace, policymakers should be asking themselves: are we designing employment support around systems, or around people? Greater Manchester shows what is possible when we commission differently.
Our call to action is simple: future employment support must reflect the realities of later working life. That means embedding age-inclusive design, investing in local partnerships, and measuring what really matters. The time we spent in Greater Manchester testing approaches and different models for support, and in listening to what people said they needed, was crucial to developing a service that met local need.
If we want more people aged 50+ to stay in or return to work, we need systems that they trust and that work better for them. We now need to see how this can be made possible on a longer-term basis for more people across the country.
For those interested in reading the full Support to Succeed evaluation, please contact [email protected]