Artificial Intelligence and Human-machine symbiosis in Public Employment Services (PES): Lessons from Engineer and Trade Unionist, Professor Michael Cooley

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.

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The DEA Method and its Application Possibilities for Measuring Efficiency in the Public Sector—The Case of Local Public Employment Services

Economies ◽

10.3390/economies9020080 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 80

Author(s):

Ewa Cichowicz ◽

Ewa Rollnik-Sadowska ◽

Monika Dędys ◽

Maria Ekes

Keyword(s):

Labor Market ◽

Public Sector ◽

Supply And Demand ◽

Policy Instruments ◽

Public Employment ◽

Employment Services ◽

The Public ◽

Measuring Efficiency ◽

Dea Method ◽

The Unemployed

Public Employment Services (PES) are identified as important institutions in the process of improving the match between supply and demand in the labor market, which, despite their importance, still do not achieve the desired efficiency. The indicated problem is partly due to the lack of appropriate evaluation methods for the applied labor market policy instruments. This paper aims to verify the possibility of using the two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method in measuring the efficiency of public sector entities. The authors focused on 39 PES operating in Mazovia province, Poland in 2019. In the first stage, the model of technical efficiency of local PES included six variables (four inputs and two outputs). Only seven PES obtained full efficiency. The inefficiency of analyzed PES varied from about 1% to 80%. In the second stage, the attention focuses on the relationship between true unknown efficiency and its determinants (five environmental variables, both demand and supply oriented). Then, the regression coefficients and confidence intervals showed that three out of five variables influence the efficiency results, the share of the long-term unemployed, the share of the unemployed under 30, and the share of the unemployed over 50 in the total number of unemployed.

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Functional Reviews of the Public Employment Services in the Western Balkans

10.1596/35656 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

Public Employment ◽

Western Balkans ◽

Employment Services ◽

The Public

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The Effect of Public Employment Services on the Reemployment of the Unemployed

Social Welfare Policy ◽

10.15855/swp.2009.36.4.441 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 36 (4) ◽

pp. 441-461 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

김성한

Keyword(s):

Public Employment ◽

Employment Services ◽

The Unemployed

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Belgium's public employment services

Mental Health and Work: Belgium - Mental Health and Work ◽

10.1787/9789264187566-10-en ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 93-107 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

Public Employment ◽

Employment Services

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Adopting the Concept of Business Models in Public Management

Public Sector Entrepreneurship and the Integration of Innovative Business Models - Advances in Public Policy and Administration ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-2215-7.ch002 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 10-46 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Barbara Kożuch ◽

Adam Jabłoński

Keyword(s):

Business Model ◽

Public Management ◽

Business Models ◽

Business Management ◽

Theory And Practice ◽

Public Organization ◽

Public Employment ◽

Employment Services ◽

The Public ◽

Model Based

The aim of the chapter is to propose the principles of adopting the concept of business models in public management. The scope of the work includes the specific principles of business management and public management, examined in terms of integrating the attributes of public organizations that ensure they achieve appropriate functionality. The result of scientific reflections is an attempt to design the canvas of the public organization business model based on an analogy taken from business management for the conceptualization and operationalization of the specific key attributes of the public organization business model. The justifiability of adopting the concept of a business model in the theory and practice of public organization functioning will be illustrated by the solutions used in local units of public employment services in Poland.

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Employment effects of investments in public employment services for disadvantaged social assistance recipients

European Journal of Social Security ◽

10.1177/1388262719836797 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 42-62 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Rasmus Ravn ◽

Kristian Nielsen

Keyword(s):

Labour Force ◽

Social Assistance ◽

Target Group ◽

Future Research ◽

Public Employment ◽

Difference In Differences ◽

Employment Services ◽

Positive Effects ◽

What Works ◽

Active Labour

Across the OECD countries, there is a growing consensus in favour of targeting active labour market policies (ALMP) on the disadvantaged unemployed and persons outside the labour force to increase their employment prospects. Despite increased efforts, little is known about what works for getting persons with physical, mental, and social problems into employment. Using difference-in-differences regressions and propensity score matching on longitudinal population register data from Denmark, we investigate the effects of investment in public employment services for disadvantaged social assistance recipients, where social worker caseloads have been severely reduced and active employment measures for the target group have intensified. We find significant and robust positive effects of intervention on subsequent employment outcomes for disadvantaged, hard-to-employ social assistance recipients, suggesting the need for an increased focus on this target group in future research and in the design and implementation of ALMPs.

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Using Artificial Intelligence to classify Jobseekers: The Accuracy-Equity Trade-off

Journal of Social Policy ◽

10.1017/s0047279420000203 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-19

Author(s):

SAM DESIERE ◽

LUDO STRUYVEN

Keyword(s):

Artificial Intelligence ◽

Maximum Level ◽

Employment Services ◽

Trade Off ◽

The Public ◽

Foreign Origin ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Graphical Tool ◽

The Cost

Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly popular in the public sector to improve the cost-efficiency of service delivery. One example is AI-based profiling models in public employment services (PES), which predict a jobseeker’s probability of finding work and are used to segment jobseekers in groups. Profiling models hold the potential to improve identification of jobseekers at-risk of becoming long-term unemployed, but also induce discrimination. Using a recently developed AI-based profiling model of the Flemish PES, we assess to what extent AI-based profiling ‘discriminates’ against jobseekers of foreign origin compared to traditional rule-based profiling approaches. At a maximum level of accuracy, jobseekers of foreign origin who ultimately find a job are 2.6 times more likely to be misclassified as ‘high-risk’ jobseekers. We argue that it is critical that policymakers and caseworkers understand the inherent trade-offs of profiling models, and consider the limitations when integrating these models in daily operations. We develop a graphical tool to visualize the accuracy-equity trade-off in order to facilitate policy discussions.

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