accenture delivering employment services for the future report

8/12/2019 Accenture Delivering Employment Services for the Future Report

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DeliveringEmploymentServices forthe Future:Rethinking theRole of the Public

Employment Service



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One in five young peopleunder the age of 25 who arewilling to work cannot find a

job. Policymakers know that—without acting today—they riskwatching a whole generationof young people suffer frommacroeconomic conditions andpolicy decisions that are not oftheir making. Europe’s publicemployment services (PES) are

at the heart of much-neededcorrective action.



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Mismatch Between

Geographical Supplyand Demand of Jobsand Skills

Europe’s employment and skills challengesAs noted, short- and long-term challenges are driving profound change in Europe’s labor markets. Proactively managingtheir impact is fundamental to the sustainability of the continent’s labor markets—and to the effectiveness of short-termcrisis response. The risk of responding in the wrong way is substantial. As such, governments must respond with increasingfocus—deploying resources and expertise against three core challenges (see Figure 1).

• There is a need to create aproductive and fluid labor forceacross the generations byreassessing the boundariesbetween education, employmentand retirement.

• There is a need to promotelifelong learning through virtual

and digital skills developmentprograms.

• At a European level, despiteweakness in the labor market,there is a dislocation of jobs andskills availability.

• The necessary enablers thatallow labor and skills mobilityacross the continent, forinstance, a recognition andadoption of qualifications, arenot fully in place.

• There is a lack of anticipation offuture skills and the link betweeneducation and employment.

• Europe needs to regaineconomic competitiveness inthe global market.

• There is a lack of coordinatedaction at government andemployer levels.

• There are significantopportunities to raise thehuman capital throughinnovation and newtechnologies.

Long-term Impact

of DemographicChange

Lack of Competitiveness

and Lagging LaborProductivityChallenges

Implications

1 “Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion,” EuropeanCommission, accessed December 2012, http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=950&langId=en

Figure1: Three challenges facing public employment services2

The global financial crisis has given way to acute economicuncertainty and a prolonged crisis of jobs and growth inEurope. One in five young people under the age of 25 whoare willing to work cannot find a job.1 Policymakers knowthat—without acting today—they risk watching a wholegeneration of young people suffer from macroeconomicconditions and policy decisions that are not of their making.For governments, citizens and businesses, the cost of

inaction is unthinkable.

Europe’s public employment services (PES) are at the heartof much-needed corrective action. Yet their role is shiftingin response to immediate labor market challenges and toprofound long-term trends such as demographic changeand rising skills needs that are reshaping Europe’s political

economy. This briefing paper explores emerging shifts in thePES role, details how PES are transforming to address thechanging labor market, and reveals essential PES capabilitiesto deliver employment services for the future.

The current paper serves as a preview to the key themesand topics on the European agenda and provides highlightsof the observed trends, and presents thought-provoking

questions for PES leaders, national policy makers and theEuropean Commission to consider. The full paper, whichfollows the European Centre Roundtable, will includeexcerpts of interviews from PES across Europe, Accentureresearch, our global employment industry experts andacademic colleagues.

2 The United Stated Department of Labor, Future Work Trendsand Challenges for Work in the 21st Century

http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/herman/reports/futurework/conference/trends/trendsi.htm

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living andworking Conditions, Employment trends and policies for olderworkers in the recession http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2012/35/en/1/EF1235EN.pdf

European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training,Skill mismatch, The role of the enterprise, 2012 http://www.

cedefop.europa.eu/EN/Files/5521_en.pdf Council of the European Union, Commission Staff WorkingDocument, Employment and Social Developments in Europe2012 http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/13/st05/st05571-ad09.en13.pdf

OECD Stat Extracts, Labour productivity levels inthe total economy, 2011 http://stats.oecd.org/Index.

aspx?DataSetCode=LEVELThe World Economic Forum, The Europe 2020 CompetitivenessReport: Building a More Competitive Europe,2012 http://www3.weforum.org/docs/CSI/2012/Europe2020_Competitiveness_Report_2012.pdf



4 http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/themes/19_skills_gaps_and_labour_mobility.pdf

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Rethinking therole of the publicemployment serviceWe have seen how a set of acutechallenges for governments—demographic change, the dislocationof skills and jobs and lagging laborproductivity—are forcing policy makers

to rethink operational paradigms.The role of the PES will be vital incorrecting these imbalances andcreating more efficient labor markets.While the diverse socio-politicalcontext across member states mayweigh in on the behaviors androles for PES, the current economicstrife have pulled policy makerstogether with a sense of commonpurpose—to (re)create thriving labormarkets, sustainable livelihoods and aproductive economy.

Accenture’s research titled Delivering

Public Service for the Future:

Navigating the Shifts , shows how acombination of seismic changes inthe operating environments of publicservice organizations—includingcontinuously rising citizen expectationsand a need for public service agenciesto be much more cost-efficient—are

forcing the world’s governmentsto reassess the fundamentals ofpublic service provision. In linewith these findings, we envisionfuture employment services to bedriven by four key shifts—becomingmore personalized, insight-driven,entrepreneurial and productive. Theimplications for the role of the PES inlight of these shifts are myriad5 (seeFigure 2).

These shifts in the public servicelandscape can unlock highperformance and impact for PES. Yetto scale these fragments of innovationand qualitatively shift toward theemployment and skills services of thefuture, more insight—and action—isneeded. This includes a substantiveexploration of opportunities for

collaboration, joint action amongthe PES network and an examinationof the ways that the EuropeanCommission can foster transnationalinfrastructures and coordinationamong different labor market actors.

• Employment rates for older workersremain very low in many member states.Only three out of 10 of those in thepre-retirement age cohort (60–64) inthe EU27 are in employment.3 Between1995 and 2030 the proportion of thelabor force made up of 45- to 59-year-olds is projected to increase from 25.6percent to 31.8 percent in the OECD asa whole.

• In Italy and Denmark, labor shortagemeasures are relatively low butunemployment rates remain high.Conversely, in Austria and Malta,unemployment is relatively low, andthere are signs of potential laborshortages.4

• According to the OCED data in 2011,EU workforce productivity levels stilllag the US by more than 30 percent,hindering member states’ capacityto shift towards truly differentiated,higher value-added activities andsustain economic competitiveness.

Mismatch BetweenGeographical Supplyand Demand of Jobsand Skills

Long-term Impact ofDemographic Change

Lack of Competitivenessand Lagging LaborProductivity

5 Accenture. “Delivering Public Service for the Future- Navigating the Shifts,” Steve Rohleder and BrianMoran, November 2012. See http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-Delivering-Public-Service-for-the-Future-112812.pdf

3 “Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion,” EuropeanCommission, accessed December 2012, http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=950&langId=en)

DID YOUKNOW?



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Case Studies

From standardized topersonalized services

From reactiveto insight-driven

From public managementto public entrepreneurship

From budget cuts tomission productivity

Understanding their operatingcontext

• Modernizing administrativeprocesses to maximizeefficiency and streamlineworking (such as aligning ICT& business strategy)

• Applying leading practicetechniques for organizationalprocesses, rationalizing thedelivery infrastructure toenable integrated, productiveworking within the PES

• Managing for outcomes andproductivity—shifting themodel toward paying forperformance based on results(e.g., effective integration intothe job market)

Understanding their own roles

• Rethinking the roles andboundaries of the governmentin providing employmentservices; engaging other labormarket actors (e.g., employers,training providers, community

networks) to enhance divisionof services

• Leveraging new technologyand online service provision tooptimize deployment of publicmoney and shift resources tohard-to-reach job seekers

• Within the PES, settingperformance targets thatincentivize local offices andstaff to act as stewards of theresources and instruments attheir disposal, and take themost effective actions

Understanding the labor

market

• Using sophisticated labormarket intelligence toolsand processes to mapdistribution of supply anddemand for jobs, as well as

skills• Using forecasting techniques

to anticipate the needs ofthe labor market in thefuture

• Working with employers,training providers andresearch organizationsto create an effectiveintervention plan

• Developing internalcompetencies within the PESto develop methods, toolsand analytical skills to acton this intelligence

Understanding the customer

• Customized, tailored servicesto job seekers and employers

• Segmentation, customerinsight and profiling totarget resources

• Focused interventions,

particularly aroundcounselling, placement andintegration services

• Effective use of active labormarket policies (ALMPs)and personalizing these intoa ‘joint-action’ plan thatplaces rights and duties onthe job seeker

UK’s Universal Credits programis the most significant post-war welfare reforms programthat seeks to simplify over sixof the government’s means-

tested benefits into a single,integrated payment—with theaim of streamlining the customerinteraction, as well as creating theright incentives for people to getback to work.6

6 “Universal Credit,” Department of Work andPension, United Kingdom, accessed December2012, http://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/welfare-reform/universal-credit

Germany’s Labor Market Monitor(Arbeitsmarktmonitor) providesregional labor market actors with auniform database and good practiceplatforms on the structure and

development potential of the regionto develop coordinated strategiesand shared solutions.7

At the EU level, investment ininitiatives such as EURES, theEuropean Job Mobility Portal tools,allows a better match between

job skeers and employers, enablinggreater mobility and fluidity in thelabor market within the EU.8

7 “Labour Market Monitor(Arbeitsmarktmonitor),” Federal EmploymentAgency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit - BA),Germany, accessed December 2012, http://www.arbeitsagentur.de/Navigation/zentral/

Servicebereich/Ueber-Uns/Aufgaben/Arbeitsmarktmonitor/Arbeitsmarktmonitor-Nav.html

8 “The European Job Mobility Portal,”European Commission, accessed December2012, http://ec.europa.eu/eures

In Denmark, the PES are formingnew services and partnershipswith employers, especially smalland medium enterprises (up tobecoming a full-service provider),

and offer all others, especiallylarge corporations, conveniente-services.9 An example of thoseservices is the “Work – Live – Stay”foundation10 whose purpose is toestablish the connection betweencompanies demanding highlyskilled employees and the supplyto secure access to a well-qualifiedworkforce, fostering economiccompetitiveness.9 Anticipating Skill Needs of the LabourForce and Equipping People for New Jobs:Which Role for Public Employment Servicesin Early Identification of Skill Needs andLabour Up-Skilling?” European Commission

prepared by Danish Technological Institute,ÖSB Consulting, and Warwick Institute forEmployment Research, March 2010.

10Reference: http://www.work-live-stay.dk/

Pole Emploiin France andBundesagentur fur Arbeit11 inGermany have programs in placeto derive significant operationalcost efficiencies in their regional

and local offices. Initiatives includeLean Six Sigma programs, sharedservices, e-workflow, as well asreforming key active labor marketinstruments.12

11Employment Centre (pole-emploi), France,accessed December 2012, http://www.pole-emploi.fr/accueil

12 Federal Employment Agency(Bundesagentur für Arbeit - BA), Germany,accessed December 2012, http:/ /www.arbeitsagentur.de

What does it mean for Public Employment Services?

Structural Shifts

$ %

Figure 2: Responding to structural shifts: The new face of Europe’s Public Employment Services



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What’s next? Core questions for Europe’s labor market actorsThe future of Europe’s labor market—and the role of the PES—will evolve through deliberation, debate and a networkedapproach to the challenges faced by the member states, as well as active support from the EU institutions. Moving forward,Europe’s key labor market actors must ask some fundamental questions. These issues are the foundation of the debatethat the European Centre for Government Transformation can facilitate as a partner in the shared vision for the EuropeanEmployment strategy and the New Skills for New Jobs initiative.13 (see Figure 3).

PES

managersPES managers are on thefront line of Europe’s jobscrisis, with responsibilityfor using the range ofavailable tools (especiallyactive labor marketpolicies) to make atangible difference in

skilling, job matching and(re)employment in theircountries.

• How can PES play an

active role in shaping

and orchestrating

future labor markets?

• How do PES spread

the risks and rewards

of activating job

seekers among other

actors in the labor

market?

• How can PES better

manage available labor

market information—

and what skills and

resources do they need

to need to play an

effective role in the

future?

PES

networksStrong networks andrelationships among PEScan facilitate mutuallearning, peer support andthe exchange of research,insight and leadingpractices.

• What mechanisms and

tools can facilitatecloser links, more

effective learning and

partnerships among

agencies?

• How can stronger

networks among PES,

research and higher

education institutions

and employers be

created and sustained

across national

boundaries?

National

policymakersNational policymakers setthe macro environmentand the operatingcontext for the PES,including frameworks forperformance, outcomesand accountability.

• What key policy

reforms are needed toempower and enable

PES to play a more

active role in creating

effective labor

markets?

• What mechanisms

(e.g., performance

management) can

help drive better

outcomes for citizensand businesses over

the long term?

The European

CommissionThe Commission plays akey role in creating theinfrastructures, processesand information systemsthat can enable betternational coordinationand better relationshipsamong the European PES

network.• What further steps

can the European

Commission take to

improve jobs mobility,

employability and

sustainability of

European labor

markets?

• How can the EU

promote furthersharing of knowledge,

leading practices

and innovations

across PES clusters

that share similar

goals and market

conditions?

13 “Education and Training: Agenda for NewSkills and Jobs,” European Commission, accessedDecember 2012, http://ec.europa.eu/education/focus/focus2043_en.htm

Figure 3: The role of Europe’s labor market actors



• A market intelligence competency to anticipatecurrent and forecast future

labor market demand,translating this insightinto effective and earlyintervention across differentlevels of the organization(national, regional and localoffices).

• A digital strategy that

supports the businessobjectives, includingeffective channel-management, use of socialmedia and mobility tools tocater to the future needs of

job seekers and employers.

• A partnership orientation with emphasis on includingother labor market actors

such as employers, trainingproviders and researchorganizations in the valuechain of employment servicedelivery.

• A knowledge-management culture where the workforceof the PES are motivated

to learn new tools andtechniques, and shareknowledge and leadingpractices both within theorganization and across thePES network.

• A high-performance commitment promotinga culture of continuous

improvement and derivingthe best use of their assetsand people.

Concluding remarks: Different points of departure but a new,shared reality for the futureEurope has long aspired to be a flexible, open and vibrant regional labor market. It has focused on this—especially under theEurope 2020 Strategy and ‘New Skills for New Jobs’ initiative—through programs to ease mobility, facilitate better skills-to-job matching across borders and develop future human capital.14, 15 This overarching ethos must adapt to a diversity ofnational contexts, ranging from the liberal-market approach of the United Kingdom, to the inclusive, social democraticapproach of the Nordic states. Yet across this diversity, there is a spectrum of common activity for PES. This activity rangesfrom narrow scope functionality, focusing on traditional brokerage and job-matching between individuals and employers,to broader scope actions in which PES embrace shared responsibility for job-activation and income support using a rangeof active and passive labor market policy tools. Agnostic of the pathway that different PES choose to adopt, the followingportfolio of measures will characterize their transformation:

14 “Europe 2020,” European Commission, accessedDecember 2012, http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_en.htm

15 “New Skills for New Jobs,” European Commission,accessed December 2012, http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=568

Europe’s PES are getting geared to deliver the employment servicesfor the future, and creating pathways to sustainable work andprosperity in a world of change.

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About Accenture

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comprehensive capabilities acrossall industries and business functions,and extensive research on the world’smost successful companies, Accenturecollaborates with clients to helpthem become high-performancebusinesses and governments. Thecompany generated net revenues ofUS$27.9 billion for the fiscal yearended Aug. 31, 2012. Its home page iswww.accenture.com.

Copyright © 2013 AccentureAll rights reserved.

Accenture, its logo, andHigh Performance Deliveredare trademarks of Accenture.

For more informationplease contact:Jan-Erik HunnGlobal Managing DirectorAccenture Human Services

[email protected]

Authors:Gaurav GujralGlobal LeadAccenture Delivering PublicService for the [email protected]

Henry KippinAssociateAccenture Delivering PublicService for the Future

[email protected]

Research Team:

Carla KuselEmily FanAngel Del Valle Loarte