In this opinion piece for Big Issue, John McDonough draws on years of experience working with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to highlight deep-rooted challenges within the UK’s employment support system.
The article argues that despite significant investment, current approaches are failing to deliver meaningful outcomes for jobseekers or employers. McDonough suggests that the system often prioritises process over performance, with limited transparency, poor measurement of success, and little appetite to learn from what actually works.
A central theme is the lack of engagement with proven solutions. The piece highlights how innovative, high-performing programmes are rarely scaled or replicated, while underperforming national schemes continue largely unchanged. This, the author argues, results in a cycle of inefficiency that ultimately fails those it is designed to support.
The article calls for a fundamental shift in mindset—placing jobseekers and employers at the centre of the system, improving accountability, and focusing on quality and measurable outcomes. Without this, it warns, employment support risks continuing to underdeliver despite ongoing reform efforts.
Read the full article here