In Brief

The Challenge

At one stage or another, almost half of all EU citizens will rely on a public employment services (PES) administration, so this is a key touchpoint of what it means to be a contemporary state. PES has been reshaped over the past 20 years, moving from offering passive income supports to people who queued at dole hatches, to delivering a broad range of activation services to support unemployed people’s return to work. Increasingly these policy interventions are delivered digitally (rapidly increased and improvised during the pandemic), with some PES moving to digital-first approaches. The current supports, replicating international best practice are largely built around psychological techniques, that address ‘problem people’ populations such as single parents, youth, unskilled or migrants.  

The limited economic evaluations undertaken in Ireland, echoing international evaluations, demonstrate modest, if any, improvement in employability, job acquisition and sustainment from this social investment. Yet, these activation tools are all we have. In the context of the recent Porto Social Summit goals (78% of working-age adults in employment by 2030; Ireland currently has 64%) and other political imperatives— unemployment, internationally and in Ireland — improving the effectiveness of these measures is vital. 

The Solution

Trapped inside our national statistics agencies and public employment services and obtained at great cost and effort— are data, knowledge and know-how about the labour market that allows us to ascertain the probability of jobseekers gaining employment, and diagnose the interventions and trade-offs necessary to make someone employable. This project proposes developing a specific technical tool to use that data, drawing on insight and techniques developed in the H2020 HECAT project to make personalised data available in a simple, intuitive and engaging to support citizens and PES administration decision-making. 

The Team

  • Team Lead: Dr Ray Griffin, South East Technological University 
  • Team Co-Lead: Dr PJ White, South East Technological University  

Societal Impact Champion

  • Bernadette Walsh, Careersportal