Guidelines for establishing emergency public employment services

Employment services are a pivotal element of labour markets, in building bridges between job seekers
and employment opportunities. This role becomes essential in the aftermath of crises, when changes in
labour supply and demand are larger, occur at a faster pace, and needs are pressing, particularly from
job seekers’ viewpoint. Yet in emergencies employment services often tend to be overlooked, and
even when some capacity already exists, they may not be adapted to the post-crisis environment.
This manualprovides easy to use guidance to ILO staff, constituents, partners and other actors
involved in crisis response, on how to set up effective and efficient emergency employment services in
post-crisis contexts. Namely:
· Conducting needs assessments (of existing Employment Service (ES) facilities and needs)
· Functions of emergency Public Employment Service (PES)
· Meeting the needs of special groups of job seekers (displaced, old, disabled persons, youth, excombatants
and women)
· Special features of emergency PES (pro-active, flexible, visible, result- and client-oriented)
· Core partnerships (with national authorities, employers’ and workers’ associations, NGOs, private
ES, international agencies)
· Steps in setting up emergency PES (location, priorities, staff, work organization, etc.)
· Details on day-to-day operations (including basic forms, other documents and tools used in PES)
· Promoting longer-terms sustainability of PES operations.
This is a standard package, designed to be used flexibly and pragmatically, to answer the specific
needs of very diverse crisis contexts and levels of development, and steer rapid response action.