Supported Employment in Recession: What
can we learn from past events?
Dr. Stephen Beyer
Cardiff University
Recessions
• Definition of recession
– In the US a recession is defined as "a significant
decline in economic activity spread across the
economy lasting more than a few months, normally
visible in real gross domestic product (GDP), real
income, employment, industrial production, and
wholesale-retail sales.
– In the UK recession is broadly defined as two
successive quarters of negative GDP growth
Recessions in the US
Recessions in the UK
Unemployment Rate- US
12
10
Percentage
8
6
US
4
Recessions
U
S
2
0
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Unemployment Rates- UK
12
10
Percentage
8
6
UK
4
Recessions
U
K
2
0
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Unemployment Rates
12
10
Percentage
8
UK
6
US
4
Recessions
U
2
U
S
0
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Supported employment growth-US
160000
140000
120000
SE Jobs
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
1988
1993
1995
Total Number of People Served by State IDD Agencies and
Estimated Number Served in Integrated Employment
Total Number of People Served by State IDD Agencies and
Estimated Number Served in Integrated Employment
23.7%
12%
20%
US Growth: 1988-1995
• Federal or central government investment stimulates change
• Political liberalism at State level linked to State fiscal commitment to
SE services
• Anti-discrimination legislation at State level
• Extended leverage of State level funding by Federal funding
• Impact of higher economic growth rates (rather than overall wealth)
• Integrated rather than “contracted out” specialised services (in mental
health)
• A raft of employer mediated initiatives to support job maintenance
and retention, and government mediated policies, laws, incentives and
grants
McGaughey & Mank (1999)
US Growth: 1996• Intellectual Disability employment stalled due to
stand-off with sheltered employment
• Growth in MH through Individual Placement
with Support (IPS)
• Sustained development of good practice
evidence through research but significant
differences in delivery across States
Growth in UK Supported
Employment Agencies 1987-1995
1995
Agencies- 201
Est. Employees- 5084
LD- 90.3%
MI- 6.3%
UK Growth: 1988-1995
• Local authority subsidy increases under development projects such as
Ordinary Life and Ordinary Working Life
• LD reform strategies, such as All-Wales Strategy (1983-1993)
• EU funded pilot programmes
–
–
–
–
Horizon
Leonardo
European Social Fund
ADAPT
• Availability of Training in Systematic Instruction and other training
courses
Melling, Beyer & Kilsby (2012)
UK SE funding
Funding sources
% of Agencies
Local authority
20%
European Social Fund
16%
Jobcentre Plus
15%
National Education Agency
8%
Charities/Lottery
5%
Wistow and Schneider (2007)
Growth in UK Supported
Employment post-1995
• Intellectual Disability employment stalled despite
Public Sector Agreement (PSA) 16- 6.4%-7.1%
• General employment growth for disabled people
improving but hard to place who would benefit
from SE (ID, MH, Autism) remaining low
• Increase in job coaching penetration through
government funded project (Work Choices-Phase
III) but of low intensity and “cherry picking” of
clients
Differences in 1990s and 2000s
• 1990s- In the US and UK growth lead by:
– availability of fiscal support
– increases in community-based supported
employment services
– in the US, the availability of University technical
assistance programs
Challenges of the “Great Recession”
• Qualitatively different recession
– 1990, 2001 business confidence and private sector jobs fall-out
– 2007/08 Government debt crisis, failure of investment and high
impact on public sector funding of services (impacting on support
and jobs)
• Labour market has changed
– Wage differences has led to subcontracting of manufacturing
capacity from developed to developing countries
– Manufacturing accounts for 16% of total employment in the EU15
(down from over 21% in 1995) and 12%
– Levels of employment in routine, repetitive administrative jobs
have declined, replaced by ICT
– Shock absorbed by reduced hours and wages, temporary contracts
• Different responses to recession by UK & US governments
Differences in 1990s and 2000s
• 2008/10- In the UK Government has:
– Cut local authority expenditure that still underpins SE provision
– Mixed messages on job coach funding
• Workstep  Work Choices “Prime Providers” (fewer skilled
providers?)
• Deletion of Work Preparation programmes
• Increases in Access to Work
– Implemented public spending cuts that are likely to result in a loss
of at least 600,000 jobs in the public sector
– Perhaps three quarters of a million jobs lost in the private sector,
because of its reliance on work from the public sector
– Bank lending is compromised which has restricted investment,
growth, and job opportunities still further
– Slower bounce back than previous recessions >4 years
Differences in 1990s and 2000s
• 2007/08- In the US Government has:
– Increased Education financing for IDD career
development and employment
– Increased some investment in Federal employment
strategies and some system change not seen since late
1990s
– Medicaid still available for employment (if poor take-up)
– Continued to pursue VR outcome based funding
– Competing investment in Sheltered Employment and
Day Services still unresolved
SE processes impacting in recession
• Intensive vocational profiling with job matching leads to better job match
and employer outcomes
• Job coaching provides on-going problem solving and help with retention
of trusted disabled employees
Coutts and Riddell (2012),
• “Added value” service from SE increase competitiveness of
disadvantaged people in a tight labour market
– Disability awareness training
– Mentoring programmes
– Refining task processes
O’Bryan- Project SEARCH 2012 (Personal communication)
Job Coach support
• Supervisors need to support job coaches/job
developers to believe job finding is possible
• Helping teams to pursue relationship marketing
approaches with employers
• Using team meetings and supervision to maintain
confidence and to overcome negative beliefs
about labour market
Beyer (2012)
Employer relationships
• Hidden jobs
– Heightened productivity of
(stressed) staff
– Promotion from within the
company
– People known to key staff
– Referral from a co-worker
– Previous people contacting
managers
– HR Department – CVs on file
– Commissioned recruitment
agencies CVs on file
• Market said to account for
80% of jobs, and a greatest
variety of jobs
• Fewer new jobs in recession
but this market remains in
place
• Requires more intensive and
on-going relationships with
employers and staff
• Job carving can assist in
under-employment
• Caveat is impact of equal
opportunity policies
Employer relationships
• Transitional jobs
– Retirement
– Maternity/paternity leave
– Temporary workers for high
demand periods
• Internships
– Structured approach to job
finding
– employer engagement
– Project SEARCH model of
education/SE/employer
partnership
• Have been used to find a way
into companies with a view
to more permanent jobs
Employer relationships
• In a recession fewer jobs are publicly advertised
–
–
–
–
Pressure on HR by large volume responses
Advertising costs
Use of trusted conduits
More people know of unemployed candidates
• More emphasis on hidden or transitional job
opportunities
• As growth returns, initial job opportunities will be in
extending existing staff hours and wages
• Requires greater direct company networking and contacts
Re-recruitment/training is costly
Job retention over time- Single Parents
Well-matched supported employees
can stay in jobs longer
% of SE workers retaining jobs
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1-3 months
4-6 months
7-9 months
10-12 months
1-2 years
6 agencies , 245 workers, from Beyer (2012)
2-3 years
3-4 years
More than 4
years
Employers benefits of SE
• Reduced employer recruitment costs
• Reduced risk in recruitment
– SE a trusted intermediary who can match and support
– Public sector have agreed 1st option on jobs to some commissioned SE
agencies
• In competition with more qualified people, added value to company
helps level the playing field for supported employees
–
–
–
–
Supervisor training/mentoring development
Disability awareness and Diversity policy assistance
Cost savings through streamlining (Lean)
Increased coworker morale and productivity through mixed teams
• Workers who can accommodate fewer hours become more useful to
employers where they have reduced staff hours in recession
Family preferences
• Individualised approach by supported employment offers
reassurance to consumers in making a risky move into
employment
– Are assisted by longer term relationship with SE agency, ideally through
transition tasters
– Need a credible response to natural concerns for people with ID
•
•
•
•
•
Exploitation
Bullying
Danger at work or of abuse
Individual job match to job seeker motivation and skills
Accurate welfare benefit advice and assistance with Benefit Agency including
negotiation of Tax Credit and in-work welfare benefits
• Continued involvement/oversight of person at work
Beyer et al. (2008)
Job seeker preferences
• People with ID are more likely to enter paid
employment when supported employment:
– Finds jobs people are motivated to do
– Provides good training including help to be socially
included
– Facilitates access to natural as well as formal supports
– Provides easy access to SE support while person in a job
– Facilitates career progression
Schneider & Wistow 2003
“Great Recession” Opportunities
• There has been significant employment growth in lower-skilled
service jobs in a number of EU countries and in the EU as a
whole
• One possible explanation is that growing wage and income
inequality – caused partly by shifting employment favouring
higher-skilled workers in recession – can generating demand for
lower-level service sector jobs
• Some low-skilled service sector jobs that can grow due to low
potential for mechanisation (e.g. personal care assistant,
hairdresser, waiters)
• Increased demand (and higher wages) at the top of the wage
distribution can create excess income, permitting higher levels of
discretionary spending, boosting employment in such services.
Unemployment Rates
12
10
Percentage
8
UK
6
US
4
2
0
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Unemployment Rates
12
10
Percentage
8
UK
6
US
EU
4
2
0
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Conclusions
• To be successful we require:
–
–
–
–
better supported employment technique
more intensive employer engagement
to support client choice with better job matching
an emphasis on job coaching models
• Equal rights means equal rights in recession also
– there is some evidence that disabled people were 3 times more likely to
lose their job in the current recession
• Equality means access to appropriate support mechanisms for disabled
workers, with funding
• In many countries this still requires a hard examination of current
investment patterns across different employment models
References
Bell, N.E. and Blanchflower, D.G. (2010) UK UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE GREAT RECESSION. NATIONAL
INSTITUTE ECONOMIC REVIEW No. 214 OCTOBER
Beyer, S. (2012) The Impact of Agency Organisation and Natural Support on Supported Employment Outcomes.
JVR, Volume 36, Number 2, 109-119.
Beyer, S. Goodere, L. and Kilsby, M. (1996) The Costs and Benefits of Supported Employment Agencies: Findings
from a National Survey. Employment Service Research Series, No. 37. London: Stationery Office.
Beyer, S., Kaehne, A., Grey, J., Sheppard, K. and Meek, A. (2008) What works?- Transition to employment for young
people with learning disabilities. Chippenham: Shaw Trust.
http://www.shaw-trust.org.uk/files/shaw_trust_summary_report.pdf
Butterworth, J., Smith, F., Hall, AC., Migliore, A., Winsor, J., Domin, D. and Timmons, J. (2012) StateData: The
National Report on Employment Services and Outcomes 2011. University Mass.: UCEDD.
Coutts, P. and Riddell, S. (2012) Employers’ Views of Supported Employment for Disabled People in Scotland. University of
Edinburgh: Centre for Research in Education Inclusion and Diversity.
Gidugu, V. & Rogers, E. S. (2012). Review of Employment Services for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities: A Comprehensive Review of the State-of-the-Field from 1996–2011. Boston: Boston University, Sargent College,
Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation.
References
House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts Sustainable employment: supporting people to stay in work and advance.
Thirteenth Report of Session 2007–08.
Lister, T., Ellis, L., Phillips, T., O'Bryan, A., Beyer, S. and Kilsby, M. (1992). Survey of supported employment services in
England, Scotland and Wales. Manchester: National Development Team for People with a Learning Difficulty.
Mank,D. and Grossi, T.A. (2013 ) Employment: Renewed Investments. INCLUSION AAIDD, Vol. 1, No. 1, 7–16.
McGaughey, M. & Mank, D. (1999) Empirical evidence of systems change in supported employment.
http://www.worksupport.com/main/downloads/article4.pdf
Melling, Beyer & Kilsby (2012) Supported employment for people with learning disabilities in the UK: the last 15
years. Tizard Learning Disability Review, 16, 2, 23-32.
Schneider J. and Wistow, R. (2003) Users views on supported employment and social inclusion: A qualitative study
of people in work. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 31, 166-174.
Wistow, R. and Justine Schneider, J. (2007) Employment support agencies in the UK: current operation and future development
needs. Health and Social Care in the Community (2007) 15 (2), 128–135.
Wren-Lewis, S. (2013) Labour productivity in the recession: why are the UK and US so different? Manly Macro, Feb.
http://mainlymacro.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/labour-productivity-in-recession-why.html
Thank you
Contacts
beyer@cardiff.ac.uk
http://medicine.cf.ac.uk/person/dr-stephen-richard-beyer/research