March 15, 2024
Productivity boost from volunteering ‘adds £4.6 billion to UK economy each year’

- Over half (59 percent) of adults who are currently not employed would like to find employment, but barriers such as ill-health (39 percent) loss of confidence (33 percent) and a lack of experience (21 percent) are holding them back.
- Analysis of existing evidence suggests volunteering can increase skills, with the outcome being increased confidence. This is mirrored in the new research. Among the unemployed people who said they were currently or had volunteered, 38 percent had gained new skills and a third (32 percent) had grown in confidence.
- The majority (68 percent) of people who are currently unemployed would be interested in supported volunteering opportunities (which include tailored training and mentoring) that help boost their skills, confidence and wellbeing to prepare them to find work. This rises to 74 percent of those aged 18-24.
- Over two fifths (44 percent) of respondents had not considered volunteering before being asked, indicating more could be done to promote and encourage volunteering among jobseekers.
- Volunteering has been shown to have positive effects for the volunteers, the beneficiaries, communities and society as a whole; the government should show its full support for volunteering and invest in an activity which contributes to the nation’s prosperity.
- Given the positive effects on productivity, there should be a collective effort to expand employee volunteering opportunities across the entire workforce, enabling everyone at work to benefit whatever their role.
- The voluntary sector should continue to develop more flexible volunteering opportunities to enable wider participation around work commitments.
- The government recently announced the Back to Work Plan to help reduce economic inactivity; where appropriate, jobseekers should be provided with access to volunteering opportunities that could help them develop or utilise existing skills or show a commitment to an organisation and its cause that might help when applying for paid work.
- Organisations that provide volunteering opportunities should think about whether they could present volunteers with some type of formal recognition for their volunteering that can be used as evidence of their achievements. This would be particularly beneficial for unemployed people who are encouraged to take part in volunteering in relation to skills development, confidence-building or simply developing networks that could lead to new opportunities.