Tackling concentrations of worklessness: highlighting the limits of work-focused organisational cultures in the UK

UK policy makers have increasingly developed area-based employment initiatives. This has culminated in the Working Neighbourhoods Pilot, which targets concentrations of worklessness in twelve deprived communities across Great Britain. Drawing upon detailed case study work undertaken in the Sheffield pilot, I discuss the challenges faced by the Jobcentre Plus agency in tackling such problems. A key finding is that the creation of the agency has placed too much emphasis on the most visible and superficial manifestations of organisational culture. At a deeper level, I find that the culture of the agency limits its ability to respond imaginatively and flexibly to the needs of such communities.