Public employment services are provided in all developed economies, justified on the basis of a public interest in efficient, effective operation of national labour markets. Although such countries adopt different approaches to delivering these services each offers what I refer to as ‘the three essential roles of a public employment service’. These are labour exchange services, providing job brokerage to labour market participants to enhance the efficiency of the labour market; an equity role, offering assistance to disadvantaged jobseekers to improve their prospects of employment; and a ‘compliance monitoring role’ which contributes to maintaining the integrity of the welfare system by detecting welfare abuse. Informed by a body of research on policies and practices in the OECD I construct a model of a notional public employment service incorporating these three essential roles that I call ‘an OECD model’. The Job Network, an early policy reform of a newly-elected Coalition government, appeared to replicate ‘the OECD model’, insofar as it performed brokerage, offered equity measures and conducted invigilation of welfare compliance. However, it differed from its predecessor, the CES, in two significant respects. First it was created by the bureaucracy as a new ‘market’ in which all employment services were purchased through a competitive tending process from private sector providers; in this, it was unique in the OECD. Second, rather than offering prescribed employment programs and services designed by public officials, private providers were free to determine the needs of clients (within broadly-defined service categories) and devise their own strategies to achieve contractually-defined ‘outcomes’ for which they would be paid. Services were focused particularly on disadvantaged jobseekers who were expected to receive personalised assistance tailored to overcome their complex or multiple barriers to employment. The purpose of my thesis is to discover whether the Job Network (in the period from its inception to the end of the second contract) was an OECD model, by which I mean whether its three roles were conceptualised, constructed and delivered in ways that enabled them to perform the same functions as the three essential roles of the OECD model. I see this question as involving two distinct, but interrelated issues. First, I am concerned to discover whether the three roles of the Job Network share the objectives and priorities of their counterparts in the OECD model, positing that these will shape the design of services. Second, informed by a body of literature which draws attention to a range of issues emerging from privatisation of public services, I consider the impacts that private delivery had on the design and implementation of its services. iv I approach this task from a qualitative perspective to explore assumptions and priorities underpinning the political construction of the issues deemed to require policy intervention and the responses to these as reflected in the design and implementation of services, noting the effects of practices on service recipients. I argue that, together, these are the determinants of the Job Network’s policy objectives and capacities. I take as my data the political discourse, bureaucratic texts, interview materials and texts of service recipients that I have gathered to investigate, in turn, each of the three roles of the Job Network using tools and techniques from the broader field of discourse analysis, selecting those most appropriate to the nature of the data. My analysis concludes that the Job Network’s three roles do not reflect those of the OECD model, first because they are predicated on different policy objectives and second, because privatisation of service delivery affected the design of its services and the priorities of service providers in ways that undermined its capacity to perform the ‘essential roles’. The evidence suggests that ideological-based assumptions and preferences of a conservative government steered the Job Network towards prioritising its role in compliance monitoring, positioning it as a tool of welfare reform rather delivering interventions to enhance efficiency or equity in the labour market such as those predicated of the OECD model.

This thesis is comprised of a series of published papers relating to the evaluation of active assistance measures for the unemployed in Australia. It offers both applied evaluations of active assistance measures as well as critical assessment of the evaluation approaches that have dominated the literature and policy formation in Australia. "Active" assistance for the unemployed is distinguished from "passive" assistance, such as income support.The motivation behind the work lies in the fact that a very large amount of public expenditure is directed to active assistance for the unemployed. Over $2 billion dollars was spent on labour market programs at the height of the Working Nation package in each of 1995-96 and 1996-97, and $1.5 billion was allocated to "labour market assistance to jobseekers and industry" in the most recent (2001-02) Commonwealth budget. Despite this considerable past and ongoing expenditure, the evaluation effort in Australia has been far short of international best practice. As a consequence, there is no convincing empirical evidence as to how effectively these public resources are being used, or of the relative merits of various options in the design of active interventions for the unemployed.Ultimately, the goal of the research is to improve supply-side policies designed to address unemployment. As stated, it aims to do this through original empirical evaluations of programs and through critical assessment of existing evaluations and institutional arrangements.

<p>ÖREBRO UNIVERSITET</p><p>Institutionen för beteende-, social- och rättsvetenskap</p><p>C-uppsats i socialt arbete, 41-60p</p><p>Våren 2006</p><p>Coaching av arbetslösa</p><p>En kvalitativ studie om coachinggrupper på Arbetsförmedlingen</p><p>Författare: Maria Johansson</p><p>Sammanfattning</p><p>Studiens syfte var att utvärdera de coachinggrupper som bedrivs på Arbetsförmedlingarna i två mindre orter i Mellansverige. Det som jag ville undersöka var om coaching på Arbetsförmedlingen är en effektiv metod för att få ut arbetslösa på arbetsmarknaden.</p><p>Metoden som användes var kvalitativ och det empiriska materialet inhämtades genom halvstrukturerade intervjuer. I studien deltog fem respondenter, tre deltagare och två coachingledare. Resultatet analyseras med hjälp av tidigare forskning och begreppen coaching, lösningsfokuserad korttidsterapi, skam, empowerment och konstruktivism.</p><p>Resultaten visade att två av tre deltagare är mycket positiva till att ha deltagit i coachingrupperna. Ingen av respondenterna har ännu fått arbete, men alla har fått nya idéer och motivation att få ett arbete. Båda coacherna vill att coachinggrupperna ska fortsätta samt utvecklas. Coacherna upplever deltagarna som motiverade personer som vill hitta nya vägar för att komma ut i arbete.</p><p>Nyckelord: Arbetsförmedlingen, Arbetslös, Coaching, Coachinggrupp</p> / <p>UNIVERSITY OF ÖREBRO</p><p>Institute for Behavioural-, Social- and Legal Science</p><p>C-essay in social work, 41-60p</p><p>Spring 2006</p><p>Coaching of unemployed</p><p>A qualitative study about coaching groups at the employment service</p><p>Author: Maria Johansson</p><p>Abstract</p><p>The purpose of the study was to evaluate those coaching groups which are carried on at the employment services in two small cities. The subject I wanted to examine was if coaching at the employment services is an effective method to get unemployed out on the labour market.</p><p>The method used was a qualitative method and the empirical material where obtained by semistructured interviews. Five respondents, three participants and two leaders of the coaching groups, participated in the study. The result was analyzed with help of earlier research and chosen theoretical concepts coaching, short term therapy which is focused at solutions, shame, empowerment and constructivism.</p><p>The result showed that two of three participants are very positive to have participated in the coaching groups. None of the respondents have obtained any job, but all of them have received new ideas and motivation to get a job. Both coaches wish that coaching groups should be continued and developed. The coaches experience the participants as motivated persons who want to find new ways to find a job.</p><p>Keywords: Employment services, Unemployed, Coaching, Coaching group</p>

ÖREBRO UNIVERSITET Institutionen för beteende-, social- och rättsvetenskap C-uppsats i socialt arbete, 41-60p Våren 2006 Coaching av arbetslösa En kvalitativ studie om coachinggrupper på Arbetsförmedlingen Författare: Maria Johansson Sammanfattning Studiens syfte var att utvärdera de coachinggrupper som bedrivs på Arbetsförmedlingarna i två mindre orter i Mellansverige. Det som jag ville undersöka var om coaching på Arbetsförmedlingen är en effektiv metod för att få ut arbetslösa på arbetsmarknaden. Metoden som användes var kvalitativ och det empiriska materialet inhämtades genom halvstrukturerade intervjuer. I studien deltog fem respondenter, tre deltagare och två coachingledare. Resultatet analyseras med hjälp av tidigare forskning och begreppen coaching, lösningsfokuserad korttidsterapi, skam, empowerment och konstruktivism. Resultaten visade att två av tre deltagare är mycket positiva till att ha deltagit i coachingrupperna. Ingen av respondenterna har ännu fått arbete, men alla har fått nya idéer och motivation att få ett arbete. Båda coacherna vill att coachinggrupperna ska fortsätta samt utvecklas. Coacherna upplever deltagarna som motiverade personer som vill hitta nya vägar för att komma ut i arbete. Nyckelord: Arbetsförmedlingen, Arbetslös, Coaching, Coachinggrupp / UNIVERSITY OF ÖREBRO Institute for Behavioural-, Social- and Legal Science C-essay in social work, 41-60p Spring 2006 Coaching of unemployed A qualitative study about coaching groups at the employment service Author: Maria Johansson Abstract The purpose of the study was to evaluate those coaching groups which are carried on at the employment services in two small cities. The subject I wanted to examine was if coaching at the employment services is an effective method to get unemployed out on the labour market. The method used was a qualitative method and the empirical material where obtained by semistructured interviews. Five respondents, three participants and two leaders of the coaching groups, participated in the study. The result was analyzed with help of earlier research and chosen theoretical concepts coaching, short term therapy which is focused at solutions, shame, empowerment and constructivism. The result showed that two of three participants are very positive to have participated in the coaching groups. None of the respondents have obtained any job, but all of them have received new ideas and motivation to get a job. Both coaches wish that coaching groups should be continued and developed. The coaches experience the participants as motivated persons who want to find new ways to find a job. Keywords: Employment services, Unemployed, Coaching, Coaching group

Welfare-to-work (WTW) programs are an essential part of societal assistance made available to families in need. In ABC County, CA, problems have been found with the implementation and success rates of their WTW program: Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). Even with funds allotted for the program, ABC County has not been able to design a WTW program that meets the TANF program work participation requirement of 50% of active TANF recipients in a WTW activity. The purpose of this study was to address this need as it related to the TANF program specifically. A qualitative, exploratory, single case study was used to explore how TANF personnel interacted with TANF recipients and how that interaction influenced recipients’ decision to participate in this WTW program. Data was collected from 12 TANF workers using semi-structured interviews, observation sessions, and document reviews. The results of this study indicated that the most relevant strategies TANF eligibility staff could use when interacting with TANF recipients were: cultural sensitivity, motivating, providing information, and empathizing. Shortcomings that were identified and that still need to be addressed and improved upon were communication skills, a general lack of encouragement, judgmental behavior, and personal insecurities. In terms of TANF staff perceptions regarding their influence on client decisions to participate in the program, there were mixed results. Seven study participants believed that they had an influence on client participation in this WTW program while the rest of the participants disagreed with this statement for various reasons. As a result of this research, potential social implications include the improvement of the TANF program overall and an increase in the participation rate of the beneficiaries within the program.

Transition from the college classroom to the workplace requires certain job knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs). How and where the New Employee acquires these KSAs is mired in the transition between education and the world-of-work. This dissertation informs the college-to-work transition process through the experiences of college graduate liberal arts majors and of those responsible for integrating the new employees into the organization. Three new employees and two managers working on information technology products and services in a major corporation were interviewed. A grounded theory approach was used to discover patterns in the data. This method allowed the researcher to inform the complexity of the college-to-work transition process. The researcher discovered a naturally evolving process dominated by informal learning that new employees used to learn about the culture and the specific job skills need in the corporation. In many ways, the participants had evolved a process similar to the apprenticeship system of the middle ages. / Ed. D.

隨著國際市場自由化、資訊科技的發展，資本流動增加外，勞動力之流動亦上升，伴隨而來的是就業市場之活絡，因而促成人力仲介業之發展。我國於一九八九年開放引進外籍勞工後，國內從事外勞仲介之私立仲介業，呈現大幅增加之趨勢，我國於一九九二年通過就業服務法，其中多數規定在於處理外勞及外勞仲介業之問題，然就業服務法之立法原意，除對外勞就業市場作規定之外，促進「國內就業」更為其核心，值得作進一步探討。 本文研究對象為國內私立就業服務機構，私立就業服務機構依經營狀態來分，可區分為跨國仲介及國內人才仲介，本文係對國內人才仲介業做研究，探討其功能及角色。第一章到第三章大抵為理論及相關法制之討論，為印證理論，故筆者對下列四家國內之私立就服機構做訪談，在第四章加入實證部分，並研究理論及實際落差之有無。此外，為討論公、私立就業服務機構功能角色之異同，故除國內私立人才仲介業者外，亦訪問公立就服中心，以求本文能更貼近事實。筆者訪談之就業服務機構，為四家私營營利之就服機構與一家公營就業服務中心，分別為：104人力銀行、1111人力銀行、Career資訊股份有限公司、才庫人力資源公司及台北市就業服務中心。 無論就學理或實務而言，「就業服務」對於就業資訊及工作機會的提供扮演著重要功能，而私立就業服務機構在這方面的就業服務功能上，提供較彈性而高機動性的服務，然而隨著民眾對於私立就業服務機構使用的增加，現行私立就業服務機構亦衍生了一些問題，以下各點為本論文在研究之中，所檢討及發現之重點： 一、私立就服機構之角色與功能 （一）我國私立就業服務機構現階段之角色與功能 （二）我國私立就業服務機構自我期許之角色與功能 二、公、私立就業服務機構之關係 （一）競爭關係 （二）補充關係 （三）合作關係 三、資訊保密及網路的安全 四、就業服務相關法令之規範 / Except of liberalizing of the international market , developing of information technology and increasing of capitals mobiles , the turnover rate of labor force is also increasing . Going along with the uncertain of employment market , consequently the development of manpower agencies .In Taiwan , after making foreign laborer open to public access in 1989 , the private manpower institutes that engage in agency of foreign laborer are raising substantially . Although the original intention of Employment Service Law is “promotion of domestic employment”, the adoption of Employment Service Law in 1992 , most regulations of this law are dealing with foreign laborer and foreign laborer institutes . Therefore , this study will discuss these parts . The objects of this study are private employment services institutes in Taiwan . We can separate private employment services institutes into the agencies of multinational employment and the agencies of domestic employment . This study focus on the private employment services institutes engage in agency of domestic employment . From chapter one to the third chapter are the discussions on theory and legal system . In order to prove the theory , there are interviews on four private employment services institutes on fourth chapter , and researching the gap between theory and reality .Furthermore , to discuss the similarities and dissimilarities between public and private employment services institutes , except of private employment services institutes in Taiwan, there is an interview on Public Employment Service Center , in order to press close to the facts . The objects of this study are 104 Job Bank , 1111 Job Bank ,CAREER Company , Tsai Ku Human Resource Management Company, and Employment Service Center of Taipei City Government’s Department of Labor . No matter theory or reality , “Employment Services” provide important functions at offering employment information and opportunities . The private employment services institutes can provide more flexible and adjustable services , however , as the increasing of making use of private employment services institutes , bringing some problems . Points thereinafter are what to be discussed and discovered on this study： 1.The roles and functions of private employment services institutes （1）At present stage , the roles and functions of private employment services institutes in Taiwan . （2）What expecting roles and functions should be provided by private employment services institutes in Taiwan . 2.The relationships between public and private employment services institutes （1）competitive （2）complementary （3）cooperative 3. Information secrecy and internet security 4.Rregulations of employment services

This research tracks the emergence of ‘soft’ workfare in Toronto. This refers to a set of attitudes and practices apparent in the delivery of welfare-to-work programs through the Ontario Works framework, which use compulsion to push people towards employment while simultaneously encouraging limited and specific practices of individual choice. Research findings are derived from eight interviews and relevant policy reports, focusing on the experiences of three non-profit agencies and the City of Toronto, who provide employment assistance and financial assistance through Ontario Works, respectively. These findings indicate that grassroots organizations pioneered employment services for social assistance recipients, and, alongside the municipal government, had been calling for active employment programs. They made use of the distance between policy rules and their own programs to alleviate the most punitive features of OW, but judge compulsion as a means to meet a necessary end. This demonstrates how disciplinary tendencies reside within liberal governmentalities.

This research tracks the emergence of ‘soft’ workfare in Toronto. This refers to a set of attitudes and practices apparent in the delivery of welfare-to-work programs through the Ontario Works framework, which use compulsion to push people towards employment while simultaneously encouraging limited and specific practices of individual choice. Research findings are derived from eight interviews and relevant policy reports, focusing on the experiences of three non-profit agencies and the City of Toronto, who provide employment assistance and financial assistance through Ontario Works, respectively. These findings indicate that grassroots organizations pioneered employment services for social assistance recipients, and, alongside the municipal government, had been calling for active employment programs. They made use of the distance between policy rules and their own programs to alleviate the most punitive features of OW, but judge compulsion as a means to meet a necessary end. This demonstrates how disciplinary tendencies reside within liberal governmentalities.

This research project was an assessment of the client satisfaction with a newly developed multi-service unit (MSU) for "hard-to-serve" welfare recipients in San Bernardino, California.