Employer Participation in Active Labour Market Policy: from Reactive Gatekeepers to Proactive Strategic Partners

Abstract

Active labour market policy (ALMP) is a well-established strategy but one aspect is greatly neglected – employer participation – about which there is a lack of systematic evidence. The question of why and how employers participate in ALMP, and whether there may be some shift from employers solely being passive recipients of job-ready candidates to having a more proactive and strategic role, is addressed by drawing on new research into Talent Match, a contemporary UK employability programme which places particular emphasis on employer involvement. The research findings point to a conceptual distinction between employers’ roles as being reactive gatekeepers to jobs and/or being proactive strategic partners, with both evident. It is argued that the Talent Match programme demonstrates potential to benefit employers, jobseekers and programme providers, with devolution of policy to the local level a possible way forward. The conclusion, however, is that the barrier to wider replication is not necessarily a problem of practice but of centralised control of policy and, in particular, commitment to a supply-side approach. Empirical, conceptual and policy contributions are made to this under-researched topic.

Employer Engagement in Promoting the Labour-Market Participation of Jobseekers with Disabilities. An Employer Perspective

“…Literature discussing the rise of employer engagement in activation uses a variety of concepts: demand-oriented approach, demand-led approach, demand-side approach, matching approach, employer-oriented approach, employer orientation, combined approach Rik van Berkel (Fletcher, 2004;Gore, 2005;Spoonley, 2008;Sowa et al, 2015;Bredgaard, 2018;Frøyland et al, 2018;Orton et al, 2018;Castillo, 2019). To a certain extent these concepts reflect various types of employer engagement.…”

“…These various types of employer engagement also involve different roles of employers (Van der Aa and Van Berkel, 2014;Ingold, 2018;Orton et al, 2018;Van Gestel et al, 2019). When the focus is on employers' recruitment needs, employers are seen as Employer Engagement towards Jobseekers with Disabilities customers of employment support agencies.…”

“…The involvement of employers in activation policies is receiving growing scholarly attention (Ingold and Stuart, 2015;Hemphill and Kulik, 2016;Van Berkel et al, 2017;Bredgaard, 2018;Orton et al, 2018). This reflects an increasing emphasis in social policies on the involvement of employers in promoting labour-market participation.…”

“…How employers are addressed varies: recent academic literature started distinguishing various forms of engaging employers (Van Berkel et al, 2017;Bredgaard, 2018;Frøyland et al, 2018). Some publications argue that these forms not only vary in terms of the policy instruments used to engage employers, but also in terms of the roles of employers in being engaged (Van der Aa and Van Berkel, 2014;Orton et al, 2018;Van Gestel et al, 2019).…”

Leading the Way? State Employers’ Engagement with a Disability Employment Policy

“…Some attempts have been made to separate and categorize employers' engagement on the basis of their participating behavior and attitudes ( Bredgaard 2018;Martin 2004Martin , 2005Nelson 2012) and on their motivation for participating in ALMPs (Bredgaard and Halkjaer 2016;Orton et al 2019; van der Aa and van Berkel 2014). Others use employer engagement to describe the activities of providers (public employment services or external job agents) to get employers involved in ALMPs (Aksnes 2019;Ingold and Stuart 2015).…”