Making it work

Labour market disruptors are converging. Economies are rapidly digitalizing, our workforces are aging, new skills are in demand, and the support needs of jobseekers and employers are more complex than ever.

Many public sector agencies are working hard to identify what needs to change within their employment services and recalibrate accordingly. How can they better serve jobseekers, workers, and employers while expanding employment opportunities for all?

As businesses and labour markets experience unprecedented pressures, there’s no better time to reinvent public employment services (PES). Download our latest report to kick-start your transformation journey.

Driving effective responses to disruptors

New approaches to employment support are being launched amid technology shifts, economic disruptions, and social change. Coming alongside the need to cultivate and deliver the skill sets that are most in demand, these factors are having profound consequences on work and access to employment services.

Our report outlines the key converging pressures and trends in PES today:

Technological

• The digital revolution is disrupting workers and industries
• The demands for automation require continual adaptation
• The expectations of online access to support and services are increasing 

Economic

• Labour participation rates are falling
• In-work poverty is prevalent
• Non-traditional work arrangements are increasing
• Mismatch in labour market demand and supply
• Economies are in transition

Social

• Workforces and populations are aging
• More people are facing multiple and/or complex barriers to employment
• Racialized and equity-seeking communities are lagging in economic outcomes and access to support

Learn more about how these factors impact employment and public employment services in our report.

Your road map to employment services transformation

Supporting jobseekers and employers requires a new action plan for PES. To meet evolving demands, many organizations are either planning or undertaking large-scale transformations. We’ve outlined seven trends in the common practices and initiatives adopted by leading employment services organizations.

We recognize that each model is context specific. While many of these models have not been implemented long enough to assess their efficacy, these trends can inspire some choices for your own transformational journey.

1. Digital philosophies

PES organizations are expanding service delivery across hybrid, in-person, and digital models to upskill potential workers with low digital literacy. Some jurisdictions are prioritizing digital-first approaches, while others are offering in-person and digital options with a broader range of employment supports. This is not an either-or proposition, as digital-first and digital by desire both exist on the continuum of digital strategies.

What does success look like?

• Providing a user-friendly, accessible, and fully functional digital experience
• Conducting effective segmentation so that those with low digital literacy or access are referred to in-person services
• Making digital literacy a fundamental part of training

2. Technology enablers for service delivery

PES organizations are investing in digital platforms, tools, and software to improve client experiences, accelerate outcomes, and reduce administrative work. In turn, this leads to more efficient resource allocation and more effective service delivery.

What does success look like?

• Creating end-to-end digital value chains for jobseekers to search for jobs, easily apply, and get prompt advice from employment counsellors
• Providing proactive support, such as assistive resumé builders, automated upskilling platforms, and career pathway suggestions
• Connecting platforms to provide analysts with comprehensive data to inform future programs and policies
• Enhancing back-end case management to allow employment counsellors to monitor progress and direct individuals to in-person channels when needed

3. Occupational interventions and long-term employability

There's a difference between a job and the right job. PES organizations are increasingly focusing on programming that supports meaningful and lasting employment.

What does success look like?

• Using funding models that offer the right outcomes-based incentives for the provider network
• Establishing frameworks that enable, prioritize, and measure longer-term employment outcomes
• Creating data frameworks that measure individual employment outcomes

4. Whole-person approaches for those with complex employment barriers

Addressing the root conditions that exclude people from the workforce starts with creating holistic support services. PES organizations are deliberately channelling additional resources to better serve the jobseekers who are furthest from the labour market.

What does success look like?

• Devolving the delivery and coordination of wraparound interventions to the community level, where they tend to work best
• Facilitating linked and standardized data sets to support the identification, case management, and tracking of outcomes for clients
• Incentivizing local collaboration with new contracting approaches
• Assisting caseworkers, employment counsellors, and clients in accessing the right supports through navigation supports and real-time mapping of services
• Co-creating plans with clients, where interventions are structured based on their ambitions and needs

5. Employer-specific support and engagement

With the current shortage of workers in the labour market, PES organizations are expanding engagement with employers to help them find the right talent.

What does success look like?

• Building the skill sets of PES workers to better engage and support employers
• Developing frameworks that facilitate access to services for employers, especially those in sectors experiencing skill shortages and those who assist clients facing employment barriers
• Creating service standards for employer engagement, including response times, satisfaction levels, and follow-up commitments

6. Holistic assessment approach to address employment barriers

Every PES client has unique needs, and many require bespoke services. By introducing standardized and increasingly sophisticated needs-based assessments, PES organizations can identify the type and level of support required for each client more effectively.

What does success look like?

• Implementing a universal assessment system that encompasses employment and social supports
• Deploying a tried-and-tested, ethical, machine-learning framework to mitigate bias in assessments
• Extracting the necessary information to guide decision-making around personal service plans
• Collecting aggregate, anonymized data to support system-level planning

7. Performance management to monitor client experience and outcomes

With the right data, information, and policies, PES organizations can benchmark performance at the system level and reward contracted providers when sustained job outcomes or other goals are achieved. Introducing these measures not only improves funding, but also helps make innovation a reality.

What does success look like?

• Creating a performance framework (with service providers) that accounts for various client needs, journeys, and goals
• Collecting data from the initial assessments to outcomes achieved to identify areas for improvement and adjust services and delivery model(s) accordingly to provide better support
• Enhancing reputational incentives for providers and establishing a system of appropriate consequences for poor performance

Seven strategic choice sets

As employment programs and services are urged to evolve, PES organizations must act to stay ahead of the curve. We’ve identified seven pathways to guide your modernization efforts. These choice sets are interdependent, with impacts across all layers of the employment services delivery model and value chain:

1. Identifying target client groups and outcomes
2. Expanding your service portfolio
3. Assessing your approach to service determination
4. Improving digital strategy and navigation supports
5. Developing a partnership strategy
6. Sustaining organizational stewardship and autonomy
7. Exploring employer engagement

Defining the future of employment services

The economic landscape is rapidly evolving, with demographic shifts and changing skill requirements that are increasingly challenging to navigate. As governments around the world redesign programs and services for jobseekers, workers, and employers, there are important lessons to take and operationalize.

The recalibration of how employment services are delivered is already under way—and opportunities abound for those that are ready to transform.