Editorial Comment:

Focus of study

Based on a postal survey of careers service companies (CSCs) in England, this report suggests that clients of adult guidance services are seeking employment, or more appropriate or improved employment prospects. About two-thirds of companies reported that over half of their adult clients were unemployed. Amongst employed clients, the main reasons for using guidance services were a wish to change career direction or to re-enter education and training.

Key findings

CSC work with employers showed considerable variation between companies. Over half had worked with fewer than 10 employers in the previous year, compared with eight companies which reported working with 100 or more employers. The report suggests that adult guidance work and work with employers is shaped as much by funding patterns as by the demands of clients.

Approximately half of the CSCs reported that they had evaluated the effectiveness of their workplace guidance activities but only 14 had collected information on a list of eight specific outcomes. The most frequently collected information were the number of employees enrolling on courses and employee self-report of increased self-confidence.

Additional comments

This report suggests that individuals believe that guidance may help them to find paid work and to find more appropriate work. However, findings are based on the perceptions of guidance workers not on clients. CSCs appeared to have limited evidence of effectiveness of their work with adults. It is not possible to assess employers’ views of the benefits of guidance from this study.