Publication
Pathways to Work Strategy 2021 - 2025
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
Pathways to Work 2021-2025 is the government’s national employment services strategy; the government’s overall framework for activation and employment support policy.
The aim of the strategy is to assist people back to work as the economy and labour market recovers from COVID-19.
This strategy is a key part of the national Economic Recovery Plan, in particular for its second Pillar on ‘Helping people back into work’. Pathways to Work’s goal is to ensure that as many job opportunities as possible are filled by people who are unemployed.
This strategy sets out how the Public Employment Service can deliver effective services in a post-COVID labour market, with increased demands for such services among those who have permanently lost jobs as a result of the pandemic.
In addition, the strategy is designed to support those unemployed before the pandemic, those looking to return to work or join the workforce and those facing additional barriers to work, in order to promote better job opportunity outcomes for all.
There will be a mid-term review undertaken in 2023.
The Labour Market Advisory Council is tasked with submitting an annual progress report on Pathways to Work 2021–2025 to the Minister for Social Protection. The first annual progress report covering the period July 2021 to June 2022 can be found here.
1. Working for Jobseekers
Helping jobseekers prepare for and find employment as quickly as possible.
2. Working for Employers
Making it easy for employers to recruit workers and to encourage recruitment of unemployed jobseekers, including young people.
3. Working for Work
Ensuring that the welfare system supports and makes it easy for people to make the move into employment.
4. Working for All - Leaving No one Behind
Extending targeted employment supports to groups facing additional challenges accessing work such as people with disabilities, lone parents and minority groups, including Travellers.
5. Working with Evidence
Delivering services and supports that are shown to work.
Arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, Ireland has experienced a labour market shock like no other. Against the backdrop to this challenge, Pathways to Work 2021-2025 sets out its ambition to return unemployment to or below its pre-pandemic levels of 2019, through the delivery of 83 commitments under five Strands of Action.
The introduction presents an overview of the context in which Pathways to Work 2021-2025 is set and the role of the Public Employment Service Intreo. It also looks at the challenges faced by Intreo and its partners in the period ahead. In response to these challenges, Pathways to Work sets out five Strands of Action, underpinned by 83 commitments and 19 key performance indicators.
The Labour Market Advisory Council will play an important role in the monitoring of the Pathways to Work strategy, particularly by supporting the mid-term review in 2023.
Helping jobseekers prepare for and find employment as quickly as possible.
Stated simply, the goal or mission of Intreo, or any Public Employment Service, is to help people who are unemployed to find and keep employment. It does this by working with jobseekers and employers.
Intreo works with a wide range of partners, including the Further Education and Training sector. Intreo must now adapt and respond with capacity and scale by increasing Case Officer and programme capacity. It will also:
- further utilise online and digital platforms for service delivery
- deliver a more personalised service
- invest further in staff
- promote and encourage use of the service
- ensure a seamless referral to work and skills training.
Making it easy for employers to hire workers and encourage recruitment towards unemployed jobseekers, including young people.
The success of any Pathways to Work strategy is dependent on two elements:
- the State, through Intreo, providing the Pathway, and
- employers providing the Work.
The effectiveness of commitments in this strategy depends on the ability and willingness of employers to offer employment both generally but, in particular, to unemployed persons. Therefore, through Pathways to Work 2021-2025, Intreo is strengthening its engagement with employers and supporting them to recruit unemployed jobseekers.
Ensuring that the welfare system supports and makes it easy for people to make the move into employment.
Under Pathways to Work 2021-2025, Government is committing to improving the welfare system so that it supports work as best as possible.
Extending targeted employment supports to groups facing additional challenges such as people with disabilities, lone parents and minority groups, including Travellers.
Pathways to Work 2021-2025, while responding to the challenges presented by COVID-19, also seeks to promote better job opportunity outcomes for all.
This will be achieved through measures designed for those from disadvantaged and marginalised backgrounds and other persons facing barriers to work, including lone parents, people with disabilities, older workers and returners, young persons and members of the Traveller and Roma communities.
Delivering services and supports that are shown to work.
Ensuring that Pathways to Work 2021-2025 is implemented effectively requires its approach to be informed by evidence and that there is a strong monitoring and reporting framework in place in order to identify and address any issues with delivery.
Therefore, through this strategy, the department commits to evaluating active labour market programmes to inform policy and to undertake regular reporting and monitoring of the strategy’s implementation. This will be achieved with annual reports and a mid-term review in 2023, supported by the Labour Market Advisory Council.
Table of Commitments
This presents the full set of commitments together with the target date for delivery and the lead department / agency with responsibility for its delivery.