Towards an inclusive labour market: Ambitions of the Dutch Public Employment Service

Abstract

In the Netherlands, income and re-integration support is decentralised to 35 labour market regions. In these labour market regions Dutch Public Employment Service (PES) cooperates with municipalities, employers, schools, temporary agencies, and others in order to help unemployed find a job. A Jobs Agreement requires the creation of 125 000 additional jobs for people who have an incapacity for work. Dutch PES provides reintegration support for people who receive unemployment benefits and people who have disability benefits. These groups consist of a wide range of different people, each needing to face different obstacles when searching for and transitioning to a job. PES has a range of instruments that support employers when hiring people with a work incapacity or long-term (older) unemployed. The key question is, however, how to further the cooperation between PES and employers, with the aim of increasing the number of employers that actually hire from target groups. Sub questions include the (proactive) role of PES in reaching and facilitating employers and how to maintain future success, for instance when placing people with more complex challenges into jobs. Moreover, how may PES improve its services? Which instruments have the largest impact? How to improve the information employers have on the range of instruments that PES may use to support them? Lastly, questions concern how PES may facilitate the transition into sustainable jobs and prevent that people fall back into unemployment after a while.