The Active Labour Market Policy Reform – The Second Wave

May 13-14, 2004
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
During the interim period between the two phases of reforms, it became clear that a more
radical response to the labour market and fiscal pressures was necessary. The two-strand
second labour market reforms were introduced.
The First Strand: Joint Service Centres
The main instrument developed to combat structural unemployment was the Joint Service
Centres (JOIS). The pilot programme was set up in 2002 and 25 centres were opened,
mainly in the larger cities and towns but covering the whole country fairly comprehensively.
The idea behind the JOIS was to stop sending customers from one institution to another and
to find joint solutions. The main aim was to create one-stop-shops for hard-to-place people
who needed more services than just those of the PES, i.e. those of the municipalities and
the national insurance institution (Kela) as well. Concrete targets were to help at least 60 %
of the customers to find more permanent solutions to their problems and to reduce the
number of joint beneficiaries of labour market support and social assistance. The JOIS
funding was shared 50:50 between the state and the municipalities but thus will need to be
reappraised in future.
As well as providing holistic assessment and services, the JOIS also acted as a ‘gateway’ for
other services needed by the customers, e.g. rehabilitation, health, work experience, drug
detoxification, youth workshops, etc. These services were sub-contracted from
municipalities, the third sector, private organisations and enterprises.
The centres were extremely well received by customers and the staff reported a high degree
of job satisfaction. The mid-term evaluation of the pilot project (Arnkil et al., 2003) pointed to
a number hiccups at management level due to the complexity of managing a centre under
three different administrations (state, municipalities, insurance institution). There was also a
certain ‘culture clash’ between the bodies involved (e.g. social workers found the labour
market officials too labour market-oriented while labour market officials found the social
workers too ‘different’ and too slow to push people towards employment), and one
organisation usually dominates.
In 2001, new legislation on active social policy was brought in, requiring new forms of cooperation
between employment offices and municipalities, and the scheme was taken
forward in the new national government employment programme and the new employment
service strategy under the title of Labour Force Service Centres (LAFOS). 15 centres have
been set up to date. 10 of the JOIS are still running. A total of 40 LAFOS are planned in the
strategy period 2004-2006. Although the setting up of a LAFOS is based on an application to
the Ministry of Labour and a set of guidelines, each LAFOS is free to design a structure
which corresponds to the needs of its customers.
The Second Strand: Renewing the Employment Offices
The renewal of the employment offices has the following aims:
- Better anticipation of labour market circumstances
- Better employer contacts
- Proactive regional and local role
Peer Review The Active Labour Market Policy Reform –
The Second Wave
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