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Public-private partnerships are seen as part of the solution to problems on the employment market: over 60% of European top managers demand more cooperation between private and public employment market stakeholders, according to an Adecco Institute survey
The increase in unemployment as a result of the global financial crisis is increasingly provoking the question of who has the greater competence to resolve this problem – the public sector with its public employment services, or private human resources (HR) service providers with their closeness to companies.
The Adecco Institute in London, the think tank for Adecco S.A., the world’s largest HR services provider, has studied this question. On behalf of the institute, TNS/Infratest asked top managers in the European Union’s five largest economies – Germany, France, Great Britain, Spain and Italy – about their preferences: “Do you have more confidence in public institutions or the skills of private companies or ...?”
Although there were differences from country to country as well as differences depending on the companies’ special requirements, the general answer was clear: right across Europe, companies prefer partner-like cooperation between private and public activities on the employment market.
Moving employment market policy from the company-specific perspective to one of the two sectors was not important for those surveyed in any of the countries. On average over 60% of the managers surveyed stated that the partnership of both sectors and therefore the encouragement of “public-private partnerships” on the employment market would be preferable to strengthening one of the elements (private or public). This desire was particularly strong in France (82%), Germany (74%) and Spain (63%), but somewhat less clear in Great Britain (50%) and Italy (50%).
When asked about the value added, the companies had very pragmatic views: they see greater promise in public-private partnerships when it comes to operations rather than strategic plans. Or, in other words: faced with the current misery in the employment market, there is a greater need for practical steps, and less so for discussion about systems and responsibilities.
When these company managers become more specific about partnership cooperation, the issues of recruitment, HR management and training are assigned mainly to the private sector. Managers see the skills of public authorities as better suited to handling measures on demographic change and social integration. This distribution of roles was preferred in particular in France and Germany, whereas in Italy and Spain the differences in competence were not viewed as clearly.
Hence, monocausal solutions and strategies are not viewed as ideal in the search for the best concepts and instruments over time. It is no longer a question of either/or, the state or the private sector. Comprehensive understanding and the highest-possible efficiency are considered more important.
To date, public-private partnerships have been implemented for large construction and infrastructure projects to build town halls and in particular schools, roads, tunnels and bridges. Of course, this approach demands a rethink especially for those who want to see areas such as traffic, safety and education – which have traditionally been provided by the public sector – free of influences from the private economy. But it is becoming clear that the aim of every public-private partnership process, even on the employment market, is to improve the use of private and state resources.
Depending on the political conditions, the various European countries have investigated public-private partnerships for their employment market policy in different ways and intensities. The role of private HR services providers is therefore just as differentiated.
The cooperation ranges from exchanging information about vacancies to outsourcing special tasks and even competing for particular services. In particular in France and Germany, public-private partnerships are characterized by outsourcing tasks as part of the assignment process. Areas of activity may include profiling, coaching when starting work, finding work on the basis of agency vouchers, or required temporary work combined with off-the-job training.
One point remains important: No one way is the right way! Cultural factors in the individual countries must be considered as much as the relevant strengths of those involved.
Additional success factors are the strengthening of regional competences (rather than tight, centralized rules), flexible and unbureaucratic procedures for outsourcing tasks and efforts to ensure that what is achieved can be measured and that specific objectives are set.
It was very pleasing to see, particularly in this period of economic crisis, that public- and private-sector stakeholders on the employment market want to work more closely together than ever before. This aim often encourages experience to be exchanged regularly. Private-service providers are now equipped with short-time working models, and this facilitates access to training programmes. This opportunity should be welcomed and be intensified further, as it is in the interest of jobseekers.
The Adecco Institute also has produced a White Paper analysing the characteristics of various models of public-private partnership on the employment market, assessing international practical experience and producing factors for success. This study has been published on the Adecco Institute’s website (www.adeccoinstitute.com).
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