Connecting Scotland phase 3 - digital support for employability: evaluation

Conclusions

Employability Benefits of Digital Inclusion

The research with users in phase 3 of Connecting Scotland indicates that having access to the internet and digital devices has, overall, positively impacted people's employment prospects. 17% of respondents to the impact survey reported that they were in a job with which they were happy. Those who had found employment since getting involved with Connecting Scotland said that their device was either essential (50%) or helpful (44%) in securing this work. Of those who were still looking for work, almost three quarters said that they felt their chances of getting a job had improved since receiving support from Connecting Scotland. Some people were not yet actively job seeking, but were using their devices to help them participate in education and/or gain qualifications which would enhance their employability.

The most apparent way that devices and connectivity have impacted upon people's job-seeking is by enabling people to search and apply for jobs more easily. Being able to edit and upload CVs was an important element that helped people make applications. In the impact survey, there was a notable decrease in the number of people saying they were ready for work but needed to find the right opportunities and work on applicatons.

Systemic Context

Digital inclusion is a fundamental facet in supporting more people into work. This research has shown that, pragmatically, access to digital devices helps people to find and apply for work, as well as participate in study to enhance employment prospects. More generally, digital inclusion can increase people's confidence and improve their mental wellbeing. However, the research also indicates that the benefits of digital inclusion can be limited by the wider contexts in which people are looking for work.

Childcare, for example, was often cited as a factor that made it difficult for people to find work. In the welcome survey, 29% of people said that fitting a job around their caring responsibilities would be hard. In the impact survey, a few people said that having a device had helped them find work that fit around their family commitments, though others still identified childcare as restricting their employment prospects.

Lack, and unaffordability, of transport were also identified as barriers to employment, along with a perception that there are limited jobs available to people, locally. These factors together indicate that the physical accessibility of work is an issue. Online access may help, to a degree, in allowing people to assess the transport options available to them but the costs of travel, and geographic disparities in job availability, are more fundamental barriers to employability.

Health Issues

Difficulties with both mental and physical health were persistently identified, throughout the research for this phase of the programme, as obstacles to people gaining employment. Uncovering the specific nature of people's health issues was not in the scope of this research, though it is evident that there was a great degree of variation between people's circumstances. In some cases, people simply cannot undertake work due to health conditions although this would not be expected to be a widespread issue, here, given that people's involvement with the programme is based upon their seeking employment. It would be reasonable to assume that, in most cases, health issues were either temporary, or were not accomodated by the kinds of work that people were seeking. Examples of both can be found in the data; one interviewee was using his device to manage medical appointments and documents to 'get his health under control' before re-entering employment, while a respondent to the impact survey said that employers were unsympathetic to their learning disabilities. Another interviewee was able to use their device and connectivity to successfully interview for a job online, overcoming the mobility issues that made physical attendance at interviews problematic.

The prevalence of poor mental health, found in this research, is striking. 42% of welcome survey respondents said that they experienced difficulties with their mental health that presented a barrier to entering employment. The majority of research participants reported positive impacts on their mental health from involvement in the programme. However, in the impact survey, several people who said their job situation had not improved cited their mental health as the primary reason for this.

Evidently, health (and mental health in particular) difficulties are a significant obstacle to employability and need to be addressed when supporting people into work. More in-depth research would be needed to understand the types of support that would be most impactful in helping to tackle health-based barriers to work. The research, here, indicates that online access can provide some solutions, but that there may be more employers can do to accommodate some circumstances. Some of the responses to the impact survey indicate that people experiencing mental health difficulties are eager to work, but would benefit from more person-centred support to help them navigate the jobs market.

Importance of Holistic Support

Digital skills and internet access are both becoming essential to finding and maintaining work. Consistent and reliable internet access enables people to search and apply for opportunities in ways that simply are not possible offline, while possession of basic digital skills is desirable, if not essential, to most roles. Supporting people into employment necessarily involves an element of digital support and, in some cases, activities relating to employment are inseparable from digital skills. Unemployment and digital exclusion are mutually reinforcing. Where people are digitally excluded and looking for work, both issues should be addressed simultaneously.

For some people supported in phase 3 of Connecting Scotland, having a connected device was, alone, sufficient in helping them into work. For others, it is apparent that, for digital access to be most impactful, it needs to form part of a more holistic package of support.