Event
9 July, 2025
9:00 am - 10:00 am

AI for employment: intelligent innovation

Central and local government spend tens of billions on social security and employment services every year, and the social and economic costs of unemployment and economic inactivity are even greater — a chronic problem for the productivity of our economy and which the Government has made a priority focus.

It is therefore crucial that employment services are as efficient and effective as possible. As the Department has recognised, AI offers a unique opportunity to better support service users and boost the efficiency of Work Coaches. Automated casework and client support tools are being deployed across the public and private sectors, and estimates suggest that broader deployment across public services could unlock productivity benefits worth billions over the next five years.

There is significant scope to streamline and automate large ‘back-office’ functions, for example assessments and document checking. And machine learning tools can improve the effectiveness of specialist frontline workers as well — for example by automating note-taking and tracking tasks — allowing them to focus on the core value-add parts of their job. The Department for Work and Pensions are already trialling many of these use cases, but there is scope to go further.

Re:State is delighted to welcome Helen Wylie, Chief Digital and Information Officer, Department for Work and Pensions, to discuss how the DWP is already integrating AI into employment services, and the opportunities to take this further.

This event is kindly supported by Beam.