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Placement Advisors as Innovators. How Professionals Use Enhanced Discretion in Germany’s Public Employment Services

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: Employees of the public employment services (PES) are street-level bureaucrats who shape activation policy on the ground. This paper examines how PES staff use enhanced discretion in an innovation project carried out by the German Federal Employment Agency. Applying a bottom-up perspective, we reconstruct PES employees’ logic of action and the dilemmas they face in improving counselling and placement services. According to our findings, placement staff use enhanced discretion to promote more individualised support and an adequate matching of jobseekers and employers. The use of discretion is framed by organisational norms and reward mechanisms and by the current labour market situation. Our analyses are based on qualitative interviews and group discussions with placement staff.

Source: Journal of Social Policy

DOI: 10.1017/s0047279420000744

Authors: CAROLIN FREIER, MONIKA SENGHAAS

Institutions: Lutheran University of Applied Sciences Nuremberg, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt und Berufsforschung

Language: English

Topic: Public Policy and Administration Research

Subfield: Public Administration

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,255