Ongoing changes in the global economy and problematic demographic trends require also changes in European employment policies. An analytical paper by the European Commission calls for shift in Public Employment Services from an administrative unemployment authority to a service and customer-oriented agency. There is a need for broadening the range of quality information, the advice and guidance provided, including international mobility and new target groups such as the inactive.

Rapid technological, demographic, environmental and social changes are triggering frequent, faster and more complex labour market transitions between different jobs, occupations, sectors and employment statuses. While transitions offer new opportunities for skills development and enhanced employability, they also bear new risks, potentially leading to loss of income, periods of unemployment, deskilling and social exclusion.

 In order to sustain employment and careers security, fostering simultaneous and explicit management of all kinds of transition during a life cycle, ensuring sustainable moves towards better job and life quality, it is of increasing importance to further develop the key issue of new channels and forms of cooperation between labour market brokers and career guidance providers.

 Bridging gaps

The question is how to best combine forms of delivery to provide quality information, advice and guidance; how to develop partnerships between employment and career guidance services systematically in order to offer a broad range of services whilst effectively sharing tasks. For this reason this paper underlines that the gap which often exists between the different work cultures and concepts of Public Employment Services and the field of education-based career guidance services has to be bridged.

 The main focus of Public Employment Services work so far is still mainly on registered job-seekers, the unemployed and collecting vacancies. This has been specifically accentuated by the recent economic crisis. Lifelong guidance has an important role to play in relation not only to lifelong learning (schools, VET, higher education, adult learning) but also to employment and social inclusion. The range of lifelong guidance activities in which Public Employment Services may engage include employment counselling, career counselling, rehabilitation counselling, career and labour market information, and other activities.

 Lifelong Guidance recognizes that that all citizens should be encouraged to develop life paths (careers) in a well-informed and well-thought-through way, linked to the changing needs of the labour market. Providing such support is a public as well as a private good, and accordingly an important goal of public policy.

 
Four key issues for PES to consider in relation to LLG services

Four main trends and challenges can be identified at the interface between Public Employment Services and lifelong guidance:

- The move to self-service approaches, linked to e-services and customer segmentation/profiling. This offers potential both for extending services and for focusing intensive services on those who need them most.
- The growing attention to quality assurance, including staff competencies. More attention is needed to linking PES competencies to broader professional competence frameworks.
- The recognition of the need for stronger performance measurement and impact measurement. More work is needed on standards and indicators.
- The roles of PES in the development of national lifelong guidance strategies. These are likely to vary considerably. In all cases, however, it is important that PES are an integral part of such strategies, that they form closer relationships with other organisations and other policy areas in this respect, and that they review their own role in the light of the developing strategies.

The European Commission and the network of Heads of Public Employment Services (HoPES) published this analytical paper "European Public Employment Services and Lifelong Guidance" with the aim to give an overview of the current situation, highlighting some key issues such as the range of guidance services offered, the diversity of business models, challenges and ways forward.