Within the institutional agenda of the European semester of Italian presidency, the Italian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs organized a Conference focusing on "The employment services in Europe”, which was held on
September 9 and 10, 2014 in Rome, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Event provided an important opportunity for debating and reflecting on the current state of European
Public Employment Services (PES), through the comparison of national and international best practices.
Several Workshops took place after the intervention of the Italian Minister of Labour, Mr. Giuliano Poletti,
who was introduced by the Head of the Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion DG from the European
Commission (EC), Mr. Jackie Morin.
The major challenge European Employment Services will have to face in the upcoming years, will consist
mainly in supporting the transition of workers through integrated private-public systems, for which
technological development will play a key role in building a network amongst all actors involved. In this
context, the Youth Guarantee, the European programme for tackling unemployment, is a concrete good
example of cooperation between national, regional and accredited organizations.
European PES, has developed positively toward facing that challenge. In fact, the main developments the
main developments it has undergone were highlighted under the categories of: coordinating and stimulating
labour market stakeholders, monitoring the overall structure of labour demand, sustainably activating
disadvantaged groups (including NEETs) and offering new key services to employers. On the other hand, the
Decision N° 573/2014/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 15, 2014 on enhanced
cooperation between Public Employment Services, introduced the new Network of PES.
The new Network of PES will aim at supporting the employment strategy process and at contributing to
EMCO's work. Firstly, it will have competence to elaborate and provide factual evidence and reports on policies
implemented by the National PES. Secondly, the Network will also have competence to contribute to the
implementation of policy initiatives and objectives in the field of employment, such as the Youth Guarantee,
improving skills matching, promoting decent and sustainable work, enhancing voluntary labour mobility and
facilitating the transition from education and training to work.
After the interventions made by the Minister and the Director, the agenda included a workshop on “Best
practices at national and European level”, regarding the following topics: partnerships with private
employment services, models of active policy-making, and the use of IT innovation in the management of
employment services.
1.
Integration between industrial policies and active employment policies
1.1. The UK Case
On the workshop entitled, “Cooperation between public and private employment services”, UK
representative showcased a Best Practice on how their PES works with the private sector to deliver a variety of
employment services. The intervention focused on the different models of programmes that have been
designed, targeting different customer groups, as well as on the governance structures used to manage the
resulting relationships and ensure value for money and high quality.
2.
Partnerships with private employment services
2.1. The Cratian Case
During the workshop entitled, “Integration between industrial policies and active employment policies”, Ms.
Ankica Paun, representative of the Croatian PES, described a series of programs that are being carried out in
her country, such as: Occupational training, Permanent seasonal workers subsidy, and Occupational training
previous to employment. Ms. Paun described how the Croatian practice, employs a network of 22 regional
offices as well as a number of participants in active labour market policies (ALMP) measures, which has
doubled in the last four years. In this context, she pointed out that the most significant lessons learnt in their
experience were:
a) ALMP don’t substitute market growth, but in moments of economic downturn they can help to increase
employment by 25-30%;
b) Funds invested in ALMP have a return ratio of 2, via taxes and contributions;
c) Sustaining the obtainment of Skills sets the path to successful implementation of ALMP;
d) Linking all these efforts to industrial policy-making is a major key to success.
2.2. The Spanish Case
The Spanish new model for the programming, execution, assessment and financing of ALMP, was
presented by Mr. Julio Martínez, from the Spanish Ministry of Labour. During his intervention, Mr. Martínez
explained how the new model has been developed and implemented during the last two years in strong
collaboration with the 17 Spanish autonomous regions. In fact, National PES budgeted 4.042 M€ for ALMP in
2014, of which 30,6% (1.236 M€) have been transferred to the regions for the execution of the ALMP programs
within nation-wide programming and legislation. This new model represents and evolution from the previous
one which was guided by, what Mr. Martínez described, as a “nobody looses game” or principle, whereby, any
changes or modifications in administrative procedures required extra funds. Such dynamics have been replaced
by a “zero sum game”, which is a more rational and cost effective competitive approach, where the global
allocation of funds is pre-fixed and its distribution among the regions depends on the assessment of
achievements attained through the activities performed during the previous year.
So far, the application of the new model has proven a success. While the first annual cycle bas been
concluded, the second is well in progress, and the third is being launched. Some of the lessons learnt from the
way in which this joint effort with regions has been carried out can be useful to other PES, specifically in
regards to the aspects that were essential for success, namely:
a) Plan a clear strategy from the very beginning;
b) Make sure to have the full support of the central labour authority (in the Spanish case, the SEPE and
the Ministry of Labour);
c) Reinforce a strong coordination among policy/management/technical levels;
d) Ensure transparency in all steps (no hidden agendas);
e) Consolidate the advancement of activities and steps of the project (no moves back);
f)
Implement a “Move on strategy” (don’t pause the activities);
g) Take into account that mid-term effects don’t need to be obvious (don’t panic);
h) Facilitate open participation & fluid work;
i)
Test, benchmark and fine-tune as much as possible;
j)
Have present that technical soundness fosters trust;
k) Reduce biases as much as possible (define a high number of measurable indicators);
l)
Promote awareness on the fact that the previous model was obviously inefficient and unfair.
2.3. The Marche Region Case
The representative from the Italian Region of Marche presented a specific program aimed at facilitating
generational replacement in the manufacturing industry, a very interesting Best Practice due to the fact that
this sector accommodates 90% of the total registered companies in the region, and to the oft-recurrence of the
extinction of these type of companies (up to 70%). The program described, consists in supporting the hiring, for
more than a year, of senior experts and ex-directives from other companies that have lost their jobs. The
program is proceeding positively, however, its main difficulty has reportedly proven to be the complexity in the
verification procedures.
3.
IT innovation in the management of employment services
The workshop entitled, “Information and monitoring systems for employment policies”, comprised two
presentations, a Best Practice from Belgium and another one from the Italian Region of Campania.
3.1. The Belgian Case
“Building Bridges trough IT”, was the title of the intervention made by the Head of the Flemish Labour
Market, who focused on describing how the VDAB system, their operational web-based platform that can be
used in real-time by employers and jobseekers, has enabled several new open services to the public, namely:
a) “Competence based matching”: currently being used both by the PES and private employment
agencies, this functionality of the VDAB system will be partially shared with other foreign PES (i.e.
Malta);
b) “My career”: this feature of the VDAB system allows every jobseeker or employee to create an online
portfolio;
c) Integrated applications for iPad, iPhone and Smartphone that aim at guiding people to finding jobs,
offering training courses in several languages, and informing jobseekers about job events, among
others;
d) “Online coaching”: through the VDAB system, different target groups may access virtual coaching.
Furthermore, the VDAB is actually looking beyond 2020 with the creation of a “Lab of New Services” in
collaboration with the University of Louvain and the Vlerick Management Business School. Aiming at becoming
a sort of “Amazon of the Labour Market”, the objective of this initiative is to create services that are innovative,
customer-centred, and proactive, through the exploitation of big data. The basic principles of this innovative
approach are: establishing a digital first-and-only strategy, promoting a transformation of attitude among
stakeholders (from the “have to” to the “want to”), no longer “offering services” but rather “coordinating
service journeys”, and eliminating the “industrial making” approach in order to implement an overall “agile
making”. To illustrate these principles, the presentation included the projection of a short film entitled “The
Job Shop of The Future”.
3.2. The Campania Region Case
A representative of the Italian Region of Campania, presented a Best Practice on the customizations of the
Regional IT platform “Cliclavoro Campania”. As explained during the workshop, “Cliclavoro” is an Italian PES IT
platform used throughout the territory. However, the Regional PES of Campania introduced some variations to
the platform improving numerous functionalities, such as the matching CVs and vacancies functionality, or the
overall management of the Youth Guarantee Programme as well as vocational training programmes, and
administrative requirements.
At the technical level, descriptions of the logical framework of the data base systems, along with the link
between Cliclavoro Italy and Cliclavoro Campania, and the terminations with the STAT server, were also
presented during the workshop.
Additionally, the intervention also included a detailed report on the “Labour Market Policies Monitoring
Tools” used in the platform, such as data cleaning, quality control of data, transformation of administrative
data in statistical data sets, and statistical analysis. The results of implementing these monitoring tools was
illustrated with quarterly analysis reports on the regional labour market and studies on the effects of different
measures on several recruitment processes.
Finally, the presentation also addressed the Youth Guarantee Programme by showing how the
improvements made on the platform have facilitated managing and monitoring all related activities.
Both presentations were followed by numerous questions that mainly focused on:
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The use and added value of an automatically competence-based matching system;
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The link between educational level & certifications, functions and competencies;
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The balance between face-to-face services and e-services;
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The need for more bench-learning between European PES;
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The specific case of the Italian labour market;
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The role of private agencies on the labour market and their relation to the PES;
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The difficulties young jobseekers face in the Italian labour market;
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The tension between national policies and the different local realities.
Although, no formal conclusions were stated at the end of the workshop, the debate arose three
important considerations for the HoPES-network:
1) First and foremost, the absolute need for more bench-learning activities;
2) Secondly, the necessity to clear up the PES-role of conductor;
3) Lastly, the awareness that there are more resemblances between PES/Member States than perceived,
i.e. on the theme of regional vs. central organisation of the labour market.
The round table that closed the event, allowed the intervention of a variety of private, public and third
sector stakeholders, at the national and regional level, to intervene presenting their perspectives on the “Local
Employment Services Network Between Public and Private Sectors in Italy”. In particular, the round table
held contributions from national and European trade unions and national employers organization, as well as
private employment agencies and non-profit organizations, giving prove, once again, of the fruitful potential of
public-private collaborations.