Surrey County Council launches ‘STEP Surrey’ to help jobseekers overcome work barriers 

Surrey County Council has launched the ‘STEP Surrey’ gateway services portal to make finding work, training, and employment support easier for jobseekers across Surrey. 

Recent research found 17.9% of people of working age in the county were not in work, with 22,400 wanting jobs but unable to find suitable roles. 

Barriers identified included education (30%), long-term health conditions (20.2%) and care responsibilities (19%).

STEP Surrey brings together a live jobs board updated twice daily, thousands of vacancies, and direct access to employment experts for tailored guidance. 

The council launched the service at the Surrey Skills Conference, attended by 200 employers, education, academia, and Government delegates. 

The event was run in partnership with Surrey Chambers of Commerce, with keynote speeches from Robert West, head of employment and skills at the Confederation of British Industry, and Holly Hobbs, a Gen-Z influencer and co-founder of urfuture.

Delegates discussed local control of skills policy and ways to help those out of work gain skills needed by employers. 

Upcoming Government-funded programmes were also outlined, including Connect to Work, which aims to support 2,500 people facing complex barriers into employment over five years, and WorkWell, which offers coaching for people with health challenges to get into, return to, and stay in work.