Beyond the job start: Raising the ambition for employability in Scotland

 

Scotland’s first Employability Day is an opportunity to celebrate what high-quality employability support makes possible, and to ask a bigger question: how do we create the conditions for more people to access, sustain and progress in meaningful careers, wherever they live?

At Enable Works, our focus is on sustainable employment that gives people the opportunity to develop, progress and build meaningful careers.

During a visit to Waverley Station, Tom Arthur MSP, Minister for Business and Fair Work, heard directly from Luke and Hanna about how Enable Works supported their journeys into sustainable employment. Luke has been with ScotRail for two years and recently completed his Modern Apprenticeship. Hanna has now been with Marks & Spencer for 12 months and is progressing within the business.

Their experiences demonstrate an important point: getting a job is only part of the picture. High-quality employability support must help people sustain employment and progress in their careers.

I’m so thankful for the support I received from Enable Works. I’ve improved my English, grown in confidence and received support with childcare, which has helped me move forward in my career.
Hanna Ukolova, Marks & Spencer

Employment that lasts

Across Enable Works’ Supported Employment services, 76% of people entering work sustain their employment at 12 months, around three times the national average.

Across our Individual Placement and Support services, 88% of people entering work sustain their employment at 12 months.

These results demonstrate what high-quality specialist employment support should achieve: not simply helping people into work, but supporting them to stay, succeed and progress.

Sustainment matters because it is what turns a job outcome into a career.

Quality at scale, rooted in place

Enable Works is Scotland’s largest employability provider, supporting around 12,000 people each year across 30 of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas and working with more than 2,000 employers. Our scale enables us to invest in specialist expertise, infrastructure and consistent quality, while our locally embedded teams and partnerships ensure delivery reflects communities, local labour markets and individual need.

Our All In model puts this into practice. Across five regional partnerships, 32 NGO partners combine specialist expertise and local knowledge, supported by the infrastructure and quality standards needed to deliver high-quality employment support at scale.

National reach also creates opportunities that local delivery alone cannot always unlock. 

Our relationships with national employers allow us to develop opportunities across Scotland and connect them to people through specialist support embedded in their local communities.

For employers, that brings access to specialist expertise and talent across multiple locations. For individuals, it means locally delivered support can connect them to a much wider network of opportunities and careers.

Our partnership with ScotRail is a strong example. We are creating pathways into employment for disabled people across Scotland, while using our specialist expertise to support ScotRail’s wider ambition to build an increasingly inclusive and diverse workforce.

This is the value of national capability combined with local delivery: consistent quality and specialist expertise, strong local relationships and the reach to turn national employer partnerships into opportunities across the country.

Grateful for the opportunity to work with Enable Works to help me build a career I am passionate about.
Luke Turnbull, ScotRail

The opportunity for Scotland

Scotland has significant expertise in employability. The opportunity is to connect that strength and build on what is already working.

High-quality local delivery, national capability, specialist expertise and strong employer relationships can together deliver consistently high-quality support that responds to local need while connecting people to opportunities across Scotland.

There is a strong economic case for getting this right too. Our social value analysis shows that for every £1 invested in Enable Works, £7 of social value is generated.

 

And the impact reaches far beyond the job start.

For individuals and families: sustainable employment, greater financial security and meaningful careers.

For employers: access to talent and stronger, more inclusive workforces.

For Scotland: greater participation, a stronger workforce and an economy that benefits from the skills and talent of more of its people.

That is what becomes possible when high-quality employability is delivered well and at scale.