The Work Programme, launched in June 2011, has helped more than half a million people into long term jobs.

This half a million jobseekers includes 115,490 young people and 35,790 with disabilities and health conditions who are receiving Employment Support Allowance. ERSA’s own figures show that a larger number – over 770,000 – have found some employment on the Work Programme. In many cases these individuals will not yet have been in work long enough to count in official Government statistics.

This is the most successful work initiative in UK history and a major contributor to the drop in unemployment.

To mark the achievement of the diverse organisations supporting people into work, employers and jobseekers themselves, ERSA is running the first ever Employability Day on 15 April, where providers around the country will open their doors to local stakeholders to show the impact that employment support is having in local areas across the UK.

Kirsty McHugh, ERSA Chief Executive, said: “The Work Programme has helped over half a million people into long term work. This is a colossal achievement. To put it into perspective, the number of people now in jobs through the programme would fill Wimbledon centre court 33 times and still require extra seating!

“At such a milestone, never before achieved in the UK by one programme alone, we must take the chance to celebrate the achievement of those individuals who have succeeded in moving into employment and pay tribute to the dedication of the organisations that have worked hard to support them to do so.”