‘Less Money, Less Time, More Complex Clients’:The Impacts of Short-Term Funding for Third Sector Employability Programmes and Potential for Moral Distress

Within the United Kingdom, the third sector has an important yet increasingly challenging role in providing employability support for people with complex barriers to work, as organisations face an ever-tighter and more uncertain funding landscape. Whilst the obstacles posed by short-term funding are raised in numerous publications from third sector professional and campaigning organisations, academic contributions on the effects of short-term funding for the third sector remain scarce. This article presents a qualitative analysis of the impacts of short-term programme funding on a third sector employability project in the North of England, as it navigated the post-Brexit transition from European grants to regionally allocated shorter-term funding under the first tranche of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Drawing on in-depth interviews with frontline employability keyworkers, the article illuminates the multiple detrimental effects on project delivery, keyworker practices and client experience brought about by a reduction in funding timeframe and associated future uncertainties. Alongside practical implications, the study offers novel insights into the emotional impacts of short-termism on those delivering at the frontline, which we interpret via the theoretical lens of ‘moral distress’. Findings also reveal a risk that, under tighter operating timescales, third sector organisations may feel increasingly pushed towards the selective recruitment of participants who are easier to help, potentially undermining their deeply held commitment to supporting those furthest from the labour market.