Over 8000 people back to work thanks to JETS

Local London’s JETS scheme, was set up in response to the Covid pandemic in October 2020 to provide targeted support to help people who had lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic.

Part of the DWP Work and Health Programme, the Local London Job Entry: Targeted Support (JETS) scheme has helped 8242 people back to work.

Although referrals to JETS in Local London came to an end on 30 September 2022, our teams at Maximus will continue to support participants until March next year, ensuring they receive the help they need to get back to work.

Recognising the wider impacts of losing jobs during the pandemic, JETS provided participants across our Local London boroughs with a bespoke support package, including IT skills, CV writing, mental health and financial advice.

We are currently looking at how we can make the most of these networks to support people with the increasing cost of living.

Sarah Murray, Director of Local London said “JETS was set up in response to the huge impact that Covid had on people working across our boroughs. The huge number of people helped back to work is a testament to the resilience of residents in our boroughs and the hard work of the team and the wide network of support they have built. We are looking at how we can make the most learning from this successful scheme as we continue to support our boroughs.”

JETS an employment success timeline

• Launched in October 2020 in response to the huge impact Covid had on employment in our member boroughs.
• More than a quarter of the Local London workforce either lost their job or were furloughed during the pandemic, a figure considerably above the Greater London and wider UK average.
• Within four months by February 2021 the scheme had already received thousands of referrals and had got over 200 back into employment. Ian Baker was enormously thankful to the team for making sure he had a paying job in December so he could provide for his family at Christmas.
• By June 2021, the scheme had helped over 1000 people back to work, including Enfield resident, Monika Koczulap a single mother who found herself unemployed for the first time and facing the challenge of looking after children while schools were closed whilst job-searching.
• By September 2021, JETS had helped more than 3000 people back to work and was supporting thousands more people who had been referred to the scheme by job centres across our nine boroughs.
• By June 2022 the scheme had helped over 6,000 people back to work. One of those who now had a job was Mario from Walthamstow, a former account stock controller who was willing to do anything to be working and trained to get his HGV Category C licence.
• Within 2 years, by September 2022 the scheme had helped more than 8242 people back to work, including Maryrose who got CV and interview advice that helped her land her dream job as a Support Analyst at a local company.
• Support will continue until March next year, to ensure participants receive the help they need to get back to work, and we are looking at how we can use our learning and networks to help residents with cost of living.

The JETS scheme also provides help with IT skills, job searching, CV writing, interview support and support to consider different employment sectors, routes and ways of working including home working. Clients can also access mental health support to develop self-belief and self-motivation and build confidence.

For more information about JETS, visit the scheme website.

JETS is funded by the Department for Work and Pensions.