Improvement of jobseeker services
Labour administration services must be adapted to the needs of jobseekers
Slightly different services are currently available for various jobseeker and age groups. The system is complex and fails to give labour administration specialists adequate opportunities for reflection when seeking to promote the employment of a jobseeker in the manner best suited to the individual. This would nevertheless be the most effective way to promote employment.
Objectives
- To develop a simple jobseeker services model based on features of the individual, in which a labour administration specialist considers the needs of the local labour market and the capacities of the jobseeker, and determines the content of service provision accordingly.
- Local and inter-municipal employment and skills ecosystems must be constructed on a sufficiently large regional employment base as labour administration services are transferred to municipalities.
- More attention must be paid to developing the skills of jobseekers and expanding opportunities for learning.
Grounds
Even though current employment services (the Nordic employment service model) are based on individual support for the jobseeker, the pursuit of this essentially laudable aim is too dependent on a one-size-fits-all model. Labour administration specialists should be empowered to adapt individual jobseeker services into the kind of package that optimises the conditions for employment. This will enable specialists to devote more time to serving jobseekers who require special support in securing employment.
Effective promotion of employment requires not only labour market policy, but also a wide range of measures and policies (for example relating to business, education, housing and transport). A large city or a joint municipal area is best placed to combine the necessary policy areas into a functioning employment-promoting ecosystem in which a diverse range of services are provided close to residents.
A sufficiently broad employment base is important, as it enables services to be delivered in an economically and efficiently scalable way. A municipality or joint municipal area would ideally be able to serve jobseekers extensively on a one-stop-shop basis.
Jobseekers must remain available to the labour market by participating in employment services and actively seeking work. Nobody loses out if they also want to study in addition to this. Employment is most effectively promoted by abolishing assessments of whether studies other than those that clearly lead to a qualification are a principal or secondary activity affecting eligibility for unemployment benefit.
Other SAK objectives related to jobseeker services
- Working capacity services and rehabilitation must become a more effective career support package.
- A comprehensive package of measures will be required to improve the matching of supply and demand in the labour market.
- The labour market status of immigrants must be improved.