Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom—
Since 2015, the City of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom established an employment programme known as the Glasgow Guarantee, which offer guidance to people who look for a job and provide financial support to local businesses that plan to expand their staff.
The key objective of the programme is to provide access to employment and apprenticeship opportunities for the city’s residents and to financially support local businesses to grow and prosper.
The programme provides support to both people who are unemployed or about to leave school or college, and to businesses that employ less than 250 people.
For residents who look for a job, the main services provided as part of the programme are: i) access to a large number of vacancies and apprenticeship opportunities for those still in school or college; ii) full support and assistance from a local EmployAbility Provider for those who have been out of work for a long period; iii) access to an individual online account to view and apply for vacancies; iv) the guarantee of being paid the Glasgow Living Wage whilst in the job or apprenticeship.
Local businesses can receive support in recruiting talent, additional funds for training, and help in managing the administrative and human resources related to apprenticeships (e.g. advertising vacancies, handling recruitment and sometimes shortlisting applicants). Young residents interested in apprenticeships apply to the City Council rather than to employers and the Council itself manages the recruitment process and provides feedback to applicants.
Offering support to both people who look for a job and businesses who want to recruit can improve the matching between skills supply and demand at the local level. One of the strengths of the project is that service provision includes guidance and assistance to people and firms, in addition to financial support.
OECD (2022), "Future-proofing adult learning systems in cities and regions: A policy manual for local governments", OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Papers, No. 2022/03, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/11fa26cc-en.
