Pathways to employment
Helping more people access and sustain meaningful employment.
Millions of people who want to work continue to face barriers to employment.
Poor health, caring responsibilities, low confidence, limited experience, transport challenges, housing instability, and financial pressures can all affect a person’s ability to access and sustain work.
At the same time, many economies face persistent skills shortages, rising economic inactivity, and widening inequalities in access to opportunity. Employers struggle to fill vacancies, while public services and local systems face increasing pressure to support people who are excluded from the labour market.
Creating sustainable pathways into work requires coordinated action across employment, skills, health, and economic development systems. Policymakers, commissioners, employers, and local partners must work together to address barriers, connect services, and create opportunities that enable more people to participate, progress, and thrive.
Our vision
Everyone should have the opportunity to participate in work and society, regardless of their circumstances.
Whether someone is entering employment for the first time, returning after a prolonged absence, changing career, or overcoming barriers to participation, they should be able to access support that reflects their needs, aspirations, and local labour market opportunities.
How we add value
Through practical delivery, employer engagement, and partnership-led approaches, we help governments and partners to:
- re-engage young people and adults who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET)
- identify and address barriers to employment
- connect people with skills, training, and job opportunities
- support sustained participation, retention, and progression in work
- align services around the needs of individuals and communities
- strengthen local employment systems and partnerships
- improve long-term economic participation and social mobility.
Our work recognises that every pathway into work is different.
We support people at key transition points in their working lives, from entering employment for the first time to returning after long absences, navigating career changes, or overcoming health-related barriers to work. We combine careers guidance, employability coaching, skills development, vocational training, and employer engagement to help individuals move closer to employment and sustain progress over time.
We connect people with opportunities while helping partners build stronger employment systems rooted in local realities.
As governments seek to tackle economic inactivity, address skills shortages, and support inclusive growth, creating effective pathways into employment has never been more important. Helping more people access, sustain, and progress in work benefits individuals, employers, communities, and economies alike.
1.2 billion
The Global Youth Wave:
1.2 billion young people will reach working-age (15–24) across emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) between 2025 and 2035.
420 million
The Jobs Gap:
Only around 420 million jobs are currently projected to be created during that timeframe, leaving a massive shortfall.
1 million+
There were an estimated 1,012,000 young people aged 16 to 24 in the UK who were NEET in January to March 2026; this number increased by 89,000 when compared with January to March 2025 and was up by 55,000 between October and December 2025.
We also support local and regional partners to address labour market challenges through place-based approaches. Through Pathways to Progress, we helped economically inactive individuals facing barriers related to health, wellbeing, skills, experience, and confidence move closer to employment, while generating insight into what works in supporting progression.
SPOTLIGHT
Getting to work, together
EDT is working with employers, educators, and local partners to address the challenges facing young people as they move from education into employment.
By strengthening connections between education, skills, and employment, we can create clearer routes into meaningful work and improve opportunities for young people who are at risk of being left behind.
Campaign: Getting to work, Together
Through this campaign EDT is working with employers, educators and local partners to address the challenges facing young people as they move from education into employment. The campaign brings together evidence, lived experience and employer insight to identify barriers to progression and promote collaborative solutions. By strengthening connections between education, skills and employment, it aims to create clearer routes into meaningful work and improve opportunities for young people who are at risk of being left behind.
Our work in employability and careers
Latest insights and research
Alongside direct delivery, we generate evidence about what supports people to access and sustain employment. Our employability research highlights the complex and often non-linear journeys many people take into work, helping policymakers, commissioners, and delivery partners design services that better reflect the realities of people’s lives and local labour markets.
GCSE and BTEC Level 2 results matter for young people – but so do pathways that connect them to real opportunity
Partnering for employability: how delivery partners, employers, and systems can work better together
Disparities in employment opportunities and outcomes for people with disabilities
What does lifelong learning mean for careers guidance?
Entry and retention in the labour market: narratives and solutions for NEET and care leaver employment support
Identifying the skills of the future
Youth transitions: creating pathways to success
More than a service: celebrating 14 years of National Careers Service impact
EDT convenes North East of England leaders to address region’s NEET challenge
West London Careers Hub and partners lead the way in tackling NEET crisis with major youth employment roadmap
EDT’s response to the interim Milburn review: fixing the systems that are leaving young people behind
Boosted careers support in England as edt to deliver Connect to Work programme
Tony McAleavy
Chief Education & Skills Officer
Let's work together
Whether you're helping adults upskill or re-enter the workforce, or expanding vocational pathways, we'd welcome a conversation.
Speak to our specialist
Tony oversees educational impact and research across our work. With more than 45 years’ experience, he champions evidence-based approaches that help young people develop the skills, confidence and opportunities needed to succeed.