What Employers Look for When Recruiting the Unemployed and Inactive

Skills, Characteristics and Qualifications

This study aimed to examine what employers seek when recruiting, and the extent to which government provision meets their needs. The focus was on unemployed and inactive adults aged between 16 and state pension age. A secondary aim was to explore whether there were differences in employers' requirements by age.

The findings are the result of two strands of research: a review of the policy, evaluation and academic literatures, and 22 qualitative interviews with individuals, drawn from 16 organisations that had particularly in-depth knowledge or expertise qualifying them to comment on relevant issues. These included government departments, regional agencies and voluntary sector organisations such as the Third Age Network, NIACE and Help the Aged.