The New Deal Gateway: A Labour Market Assessment

This is a short, focused study examining the issues behind the coexistence of notified vacancies and unemployed young people on New Deal's Gateway in the Birmingham labour market.

It reveals confusion over different interpretations of job readiness among clients, advisors and employers.

In the case of employers, there are objective and subjective criteria to meet and these are often out of tune with what clients perceive their labour market position to be.

Advisors are hard pressed for time, and employers are dissatisfied with the quality and low volume of New Deal clients referred to them for interview. Large employers are generally not motivated by the employment subsidy and small to medium sized enterprises show a low level of awareness of the New Deal.

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