JobsPlus: early outcomes from a place-based pilot

23 Oct 2025

Amy Fox, Senior Research Fellow

Tackling economic inactivity in social housing

Economic inactivity remains a significant challenge in communities with a history of worklessness. More than 1 in 5 (21.1%) working age adults are economically inactive, with almost a third (32.9%) economically inactive due to long term ill health. A substantial proportion of economically inactive adults in social housing are not engaged with employment support, despite residents being more likely to be disabled, lone parents, or have low or no qualifications. This highlights a gap in how services reach and respond to these communities, one that must be addressed if the government is to meet its 80% employment rate ambition.

The Get Britain Working White Paper (2024) calls for services that are better integrated into local communities to tackle economic inactivity, poor health and skills gaps. The JobsPlus pilot is one example of how that can work in practice. The model is being piloted in ten social housing communities across England, led by Learning and Work Institute and evaluated by the Institute for Employment Studies. It is being delivered in partnership with Communities that Work and MRDC, funded by the Department for Work and Pensions and the Youth Futures Foundation, and delivered by housing associations.

JobsPlus offers a personalised community-based approach to employment support. Delivered in community hubs located near or within social housing estates, it combines tailored guidance with financial incentives and local engagement to support people to move into meaningful work. It focuses on helping people find the right job, one that suits their goals and circumstances. Advisors work with participants, addressing barriers such as health issues, low confidence, and skills gaps, to ensure people are job-ready. By placing support in the heart of communities, JobsPlus helps normalise job-seeking, allows people to see others making progress and fosters a shared culture of work.

The programme is open to everyone of working age, within a defined geographical boundary, not just those receiving benefits, helping to normalise support across communities. JobsPlus builds on the strength of trusted local networks and community groups to raise awareness of JobsPlus and encourage participation. It empowers residents to play an active role in shaping the support and promoting JobsPlus within their communities. The aim is to make employment support feel more local, personalised, and accessible, particularly for those who may have struggled to engage with other employment support in the past.

The JobsPlus model was developed in the 1990s to tackle persistent unemployment in public housing developments in the United States. An evaluation revealed a 16% increase in average earnings compared to the control group, with these gains sustained over seven years. (Bloom et al.,2005).

Connecting with underserved communities

The place-based approach means that JobsPlus is becoming recognised and trusted in local communities.

“We walk around the area to and from home or lunch, or engagement sessions, and we do tend to bump into people we know, they recognise us, and we have a chat, we have that trust because we are local. We’re not on the top floor of some fancy building, we’re not outside the area and having to travel. We’re on your doorstep in a really accessible building.” Housing association staff

Housing association staff and partners delivering the programme have helped raise the visibility of JobsPlus through a range of community outreach activities, including coffee mornings, summer and wellbeing events, door knocking and monthly newsletters. Taking the time to build trusted service has meant that JobsPlus can seem more approachable than conventional employment programs.

Data collected over the first year of the pilot confirms that JobsPlus has been particularly successful at reaching residents who face complex barriers to work and are often underserved by mainstream employment support. For instance, from July 2024 to March 2025, 28% of participating residents reported having long-term health conditions that affected their daily lives, and over a quarter had no or low qualifications (28%). Most were out of work when they joined the programme, with 13% having never worked, and 28% who had experienced alternating periods of employment and unemployment. JobsPlus is also reaching others who are not normally well-engaged with employment programmes. Just over a third (36%) have parental or caring responsibilities. 25% are aged 16-24 years, and 27% come from ethnic minority backgrounds, compared to 12% of residents in the pilot sites who fall into these groups.

Findings – what’s emerging so far

These findings from the interim report cover the first phase of the programme (July 2024 to March 2025), a period when delivery sites were still in the process of setting up and establishing operations. Early evaluation findings are encouraging, with 83 participants (18%) securing employment, 69 of whom (15%) were out of work at the start. Furthermore, more than half of those who found a job or changed jobs after signing up for JobsPlus have secured a permanent contract. Participants are also reporting intermediate outcomes such as improvements in mental health and wellbeing, increased confidence, feeling more socially connected, and being better prepared for work. These are not only important outcomes in their own right but also demonstrate how JobsPlus supports those further from the job market.

Participant feedback provides some insight into what aspects of the JobsPlus approach keep them engaged and improve employment and wellbeing outcomes. With a relatively small caseload, caseworkers can take the time to understand individual circumstances, to identify barriers and work with participants to remove obstacles to employment.

Consequently, participants praised the quality of the employment support and felt that the flexible, holistic and person-centred approach helped them to feel understood and supported:

“The emotional support has been life-changing. It really has. Being able to have somewhere to come, have someone friendly to talk to, who's supportive, who can say, you know, let's get you on board, let's help out, you can do this and just make me feel valued has been life-changing. Because I just thought it was over.” JobsPlus participant

Having employment support co-located with the housing association has also been a key facilitator, with hubs often located within a ten-minute walk of housing estates. Unlike Jobs Centres, which can sometimes feel formal or intimidating, JobsPlus offers friendly, non-judgmental, and easily accessible spaces that have helped residents engage with the employment support and a broad range of other support services. Through JobsPlus, staff connect residents to services such as those providing assistance with debt and budgeting, housing support, counselling and therapy, drug and alcohol support, domestic abuse support, and health services.

Why this matters

With the government aiming for an 80% employment rate and exploring new ways to tackle economic inactivity, as well as a commitment to deeper and wider devolution, this model could be one of the emerging solutions. The findings of the second year of the evaluation, due in Spring 2026, will explore evolving models of delivery, scalability and potential for wider implementation. A separate impact evaluation is also due in Spring 2026.

Join the conversation

On Wednesday, 5^th November at 2pm UK time, IES is hosting a webinar to explore additional emerging results from the interim evaluation of JobsPlus and what it means for future policy and practice. The session is open to anyone interested in employment support. It may be particularly relevant for:

Employment and skills leads in Combined and Local Authorities
Policymakers at national and local levels
Funders and commissioners
Housing associations interested in place-based employment models

You will hear from the evaluation team, programme funders, and Jim Riccio, the original developer of JobsPlus in the US, as they share insights on what’s working, what’s different and what lessons can be learned for programme design.

Join the conversation and register for the event here.

With thanks to Kyla Ellis and Rakhee Patel for their support in developing this blog.

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Any views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Institute as a whole.