Employment services: Key resources

July 2022

  1. ILO Working paper 72

    Why should we integrate income and employment support? A conceptual and empirical investigation

    18 July 2022

    This paper conceptualizes, for the first time, the implementation of policy approaches that integrate active labour market policies within income support schemes, focusing on low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). We develop a conceptual framework to understand how integrated policies can address labour market challenges, exploring the theoretical effects they exert on selected labour market and social dimensions. We compare this to the empirical literature, which does not always find that policies are effective. To reconcile this discrepancy, we investigate the design and implementation of integrated approaches across LMIC and identify factors which contribute to their effectiveness.

  2. Publication

    Comprehensive rapid assessment of public employment services in Uganda - With a special assessment in two target host community refugee settlements for the PROSPECTS programme

    13 July 2022

April 2022

  1. Publication

    Tracer study: Skills Profiling Application in Egypt for refugees and host communities

    19 April 2022

    ILO PROSPECTS Egypt in collaboration with Skilllab, a social start-up based in the Netherlands, and the Association of Businessmen in Alexandria (ABA), piloted a skills-profiling application that enables refugees and host communities to self-assess and communicate their skills to potential employers.

  2. Publication

    Behavioural insights in employers’ choice of recruitment services for domestic work

    04 April 2022

    The ILO launched a campaign based on behavioural science, in a bid to influence the market in Hong Kong towards greater demand for fair recruitment practices. This report presents the results of the randomised control trial that was designed and used to identify the most effective message frame to trigger the behaviour of employers of domestic workers in Hong Kong (China) and influence their choice of private recruitment agencies when hiring foreign domestic workers.

  3. Publication

    Policy guidance note: Digitalising career guidance services

    01 April 2022

    This policy guidance note provides advice to decision makers, managers and technical staff on how to invest in digitalising career guidance services 

March 2022

  1. Global report

    Technology adoption in public employment services: Catching up with the future

    29 March 2022

    The combined effects of the global pandemic and the general trend of digitalization are pushing public employment services to accelerate their use of innovation to develop and deliver simpler, faster and better services for clients.

February 2022

  1. Guide

    Guidelines on the setting-up of effective job centres in developing countries with reference to Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa regions

    07 February 2022

    These Guidelines on how to establish job centres (employment service centres) were developed in response to calls from ILO constituents and the YouMatch Project partner countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa regions.

December 2021

  1. Guidance

    SOP for Procurement under EIIP and Other Development Cooperation Construction Works

    22 December 2021

    Version 1.0 Procurement Bureau and DEVINVEST

November 2021

  1. #Ratify C181

    Promoting the ratification of the Private Employment Agencies Convention No. 181

    25 November 2021

    To support optimally functioning labour markets, and to help prevent abusive and exploitative practices in labour recruiting, the ILO encourages member States to ratify and implement Convention No. 181 as the most up-to-date instrument in this area.

  2. #Ratify C88

    Promoting the ratification of the Employment Services Convention No. 88

    25 November 2021

    The global COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing jobs crisis have highlighted the critical role of public employment services and, by extension, the ILO's Convention that supports them.