Training services

Tender description

Employability services for ‘Work Ready’ citizens part of post Covid-19 recovery plan. The Department is considering options to supplement its response to any continued increase in the volume of citizens who require access to employment support services post Covid-19. It is anticipated that existing Departmental Employment Services will continue to be delivered and any subsequent procurement of external services is intended to supplement these services (in times of peak volumes or when additional expert services may be required) and are not intended to replace them. Due to the evolving nature of the Covid-19, it is impossible to accurately predict the final economic and labour market impact of the current emergency situation. However, based upon previous economic crises and ongoing economic forecasting, it seems inevitable that the labour market will change with high levels of unemployment and a constricted employment market. The Unemployment count for Jobseeker’s Allowance and out of work Universal Credit benefits has already risen by 89 % from 29 700 to 56 200 between March 2020 and April 2020 and is likely to increase when government support tapers off. Estimates by Ernst and Young suggest 78 000 jobs could be lost over the year and should the Coronavirus outbreak be prolonged, 132 000 jobs could be lost. NI, along with the rest of the world, faces unprecedented challenges in facilitating economic recovery and reinvigorating the labour market. Learning from previous recessions and from emerging data on the current Post Covid-19 situation, it is expected that NI will face a number of challenges including • A large number of work ready people on the lower end of the skills spectrum may become unemployed. They will primarily need assistance with finding a new job. • A number of people will be work ready but their current experience may be from a depressed sector. These individuals will require in depth support to consider their future employment goals and potentially reskill or retrain. • A subset of recently unemployed people will become economically inactive with new or exacerbated health conditions especially mental health conditions. This group will need personal development/motivation support and help with managing their health conditions. • Existing long term unemployed, economically inactive and disabled people will face greater labour market competition from recently unemployed people. • Young people exiting education or training run the risk of longer term scarring. • The labour market is not homogenous across all of NI and solutions may need to vary between and within council areas to address the particular issues in that area. • All of this will be in an environment where employers are coming to terms with social distancing necessitating new organisational design, new customer channels and a shift in the skills required from employees.