The latest Connect to Work figures are encouraging. But beyond the growing number of people accessing support and starting work, the programme points to something more fundamental: effective employment support increasingly needs to recognise that the barriers people face rarely exist in isolation.
Between April 2025 and the end of June 2026, 25,000 participants started on Connect to Work. Of those who were out of work when they joined, 4,100 started a job – more than double the number reported in the previous statistical release. More than a quarter of people who received support were aged 16 to 24. The Government says the programme remains on course to support around 300,000 people by the end of the decade, with £1.2 billion of funding confirmed for local areas across England and Wales.
Those are encouraging early figures. They also raise a bigger question for the employment support sector; how do we turn personalised support into lasting progress for people whose route to work may involve health, confidence, skills, behaviour, practical circumstances and employer opportunity?
From employment programmes to connected support
Someone who has been out of work for a long time may also be managing a health condition, rebuilding confidence or needing to update their skills. For someone else, the difference may be finding an employer able to recognise their potential and provide the right support.
Connect to Work is designed to respond to that complexity. It is voluntary and provides intensive, one-to-one support, with local areas shaping delivery around their communities. Specialist advisers can help participants address barriers, identify suitable jobs, develop practical skills and continue to provide support once someone enters work.
Through AKG Employment and Intuitive Thinking Skills, both part of AKG Group, we are involved in Connect to Work delivery across a number of areas in England and Wales. The programme aligns closely with an approach that has shaped AKG’s work for more than 30 years: personalised support, strong local partnerships and bringing together the expertise people need to move forward.
Across AKG Group, four specialist businesses bring together employment, learning, health and behaviour change. This means support can respond to the wider circumstances affecting someone’s journey towards employment rather than treating each barrier as a separate issue.
Personalisation has to mean more than a personalised action plan
Phil Reynolds, Director of Operations at Intuitive Thinking Skills, said:
“Personalised employment support has to mean more than giving everybody a different action plan. If somebody has experienced long-term unemployment, poor health, low confidence or other significant challenges, we have to understand what sits behind those barriers. Sometimes progress starts well before a job application.
“Connect to Work gives us an opportunity to bring together employment expertise with the behaviour-change and lived-experience approach we have developed through Intuitive Thinking Skills. That combination can help people make changes that are meaningful and sustainable.”
Within Intuitive Thinking Skills, around 70% of colleagues have lived experience of the challenges its programmes are designed to address. That lived experience sits alongside evidence-based behaviour-change programmes, peer mentoring and specialist interventions.
Keeping the individual at the centre as delivery grows. And as it grows, the challenge will be to retain genuinely personalised support while delivering consistently at scale.
Ayden Sims, CEO of AKG UK, said:
“The ambition behind Connect to Work is significant, but its real potential lies in keeping the individual at the centre as delivery grows.
“Economic inactivity is not one challenge with one solution. Health, skills, confidence, opportunity, employer behaviour and local labour markets can all play a part. Our experience tells us that strong employment support recognises those connections rather than trying to address each issue separately.
“The opportunity for government, commissioners and providers is to keep connecting services around people and communities, so that individuals can access the right support at the right time.”
AKG supports around 20,000 people each year across England and Wales through more than 80 live contracts for the DWP, local and combined authorities and other public sector partners, helping teams engage with diverse communities.
Connect to Work with AKG
AKG Employment and Intuitive Thinking Skills deliver Connect to Work support across a number of areas in England and Wales, helping people overcome barriers to employment and move towards sustainable work.
Find Connect to Work support in your area
Explore our Connect to Work services to find out what support is available in your area and how to get started.
Sources
Department for Work and Pensions, “Connect to Work delivers for thousands more as programme expands”, 10 September 2026. GOV.UK source. Figures quoted in this article cover activity from April 2025 to the end of June 2026.
AKG Group corporate information, September 2026. AKG organisational figures and descriptions in this article are drawn from current AKG corporate materials.
