2023

Huuskonen, Jussi

This article focuses on the role of public employment services in labour market matching. Public employment services provide job mediation services and activation services that can enhance matching. The article is based on my dissertation, where I examined the effects of periodic interviews, vacancy referrals and unemployment benefit sanctions. I utilized comprehensive register-based microdata from Statistics Finland and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, as well as quasi-experimental methods to assess causal effects. Interviews and vacancy referrals are job search assistance but they also include monitoring. The existing evidence shows that combining job search assistance with job search monitoring produces positive employment effects. According to my study, in 2017, more intensive interviews increased the transition rates to employment and participation in ALMPs. The employment effects were strongest among jobseekers aged 25–34 and those with a low education level. Based on my second dissertation article, in 2014, increasing the number of vacancy referrals in relation to vacancies enhanced the filling of open job positions. According to my third dissertation article, sanctions caused long-term unemployed individuals to exit the labour force and reduced their employment probability. Thus, public employment services can promote the functioning of the labour market. However, job search assistance and monitoring work well mainly in sectors where there are both unemployed jobseekers and vacancies simultaneously. In sectors facing labour shortages, the challenge is that the skills and qualifications of jobseekers do not match the job requirements.