Work used to be a route out of poverty but today much work is demeaning and wages for many are so low that most benefits are paid to those in work (not those who are unemployed). The world of work is changing fast. But the organisations available to support us are still modelled on defunct 1950s ideas of stable work found through an advert, with a clear path of progression. Working with over a thousand people in and out of work we designed Backr a new approach to finding and progressing in work. An independent evaluation showed Backr to be cost effective and particularly good at supporting those who are left behind by existing services http://www.participle.net/employability I plan to develop this work further asking what new forms of organisation can promote good work in this century as the Unions did in the previous century.
