THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CAREER AND EMPLOYABILITY ENHANCEMENT PROGRAMS: CANADA
SUPPORTING EMPLOYABILITY AND POVERTY REDUCTION
Among the many challenges facing career guidance policies, systems, and practices are those of showing proof that career guidance has a very positive effect on people’s lives in concrete terms such as obtaining employment and improving their socio-economic circumstances. Canada provides us with two recent evidenced-based examples.
NPower Canada’s tech training programs and the Canadian Career Development Foundation’s pre-employment program, In Motion and Momentum+ (IM&M+), are two Future Skills Centre-funded career development research projects that over the last three years have been rigorously gathering this evidence. Both programs have participated in studies that illustrate the link between career development programs and poverty reduction, most recently through a randomized controlled trial (RCT) methodology.
NPower Canada has shown:
Increases in annual household income by 40% for diverse job-seekers that face significant challenges to employment. In 2022, job-seekers had an average annual household income of $29,376. After completing the program and getting a job, graduates earned an average individual starting salary of $41,000.
-Increases in employability of job-seekers and leads to sustained employment.
-Increases in employability of job-seekers and leads to sustained employment.
More than 80% of NPower Canada graduates are employed within six months of graduating from the program. Of these graduates, 90% are still employed 24- and 36-months post graduation.
Job-seekers learn: foundational skills, such as resume writing, teamwork and conflict resolution, and time management.
IM&M+ has shown:
-Annual evaluations of its province-wide program implementation across New Brunswick (2016-2019) found that social assistance caseloads dropped by 10%
–Increases in employability and access to decent work among participants unemployed for longer than one year. Across multiple research projects, 20 to 40% of participants have gained employment or education 2-3 months after the program. One study found that of those employed, 80% secured decent work (i.e., permanent positions, with benefits, that participants describe as being a career goal fit for them).
-Better employment outcomes for those who participate in the program, including participants from under-represented groups. Interim data from IM&M+’s randomized controlled trial shows that on average, the employment rate for those who participated in IM&M+ is about 16 points higher than for those in the comparison group at three months following the end of the program.
–Increases in employability and access to decent work among participants unemployed for longer than one year. Across multiple research projects, 20 to 40% of participants have gained employment or education 2-3 months after the program. One study found that of those employed, 80% secured decent work (i.e., permanent positions, with benefits, that participants describe as being a career goal fit for them).
-Better employment outcomes for those who participate in the program, including participants from under-represented groups. Interim data from IM&M+’s randomized controlled trial shows that on average, the employment rate for those who participated in IM&M+ is about 16 points higher than for those in the comparison group at three months following the end of the program.
-This pattern also held for under-represented groups: racialized participants and women saw better employment outcomes at three months post-program compared to their counterparts in the comparison group.