In the wake of the financial crisis and the resulting social, economic and political challenges experienced by many European countries, the ongoing change in paradigm from passive to active welfare state policies gained new momentum. The shift of emphasis from mere income protection to the activation of clients in working age had already demanded adjustments in institutional and organisational structures. Thereby market as well as network ideas have been strengthened in the governance of labour market policies (Ehrler, 2012). In the spirit of New Public Governance (NPG) these reforms aim to "make government more effective and legitimate by including a wider range of social actors in both policymaking and implementation" (Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2011) In addition, job centres have been turned from bureaucratic organizations into flexible organizations which should operate like their private counterparts (staffing firms) to increase the the effectiveness of ALMP.
The reorganization of the labour market policy is intensely discussed in the literature. However, research focuses first and foremost on the changing content of labour market policy (activation) (Heidenreich, Graziano 2014; Kenworthy 2010; Minas et al. 2012) and the changing governance structures (marketization of labour market service provision) (Finn 2012; Larsen, Wright 2014). Yet, there is one important gap in the recent literature: what is the contribution of the staff in job centers to ensure ALMPs effectiveness? We know very little about how staff in job centres is selected, qualified, and trained (van Berkel and Knies, 2017: 4), as well as how human resource management has changed with the upcoming of the activation paradigm. The proposed paper aims at opening the black box of personnel policies in job centres. The following questions are discussed:
• With the shift to the activation paradigm, job specifications have changed considerably: the activation of the unemployed requires very different competences compared to the mere calculation of unemployment benefits. To what extent, if any at all, is the paradigm shift reflected in changing criteria for the selection of staff and on the job training programs?
• Job centres are expected to operate as flexible organizations. What impact does the demand for flexible service delivery have on job centres? Is the staff subject of flexibility policies such as fixed-term contracts, flexible working-hours, and flexible work load? And what impact do these flexibility measures have on job satisfaction and, even more important, the quality of the services provided?
• Leadership: What are the ideas of leadership development and what are the performance criteria for line managers to ensure a successful implementation of AMLPs Policies?
The proposed paper discusses these questions in a comparative perspective. The two countries under study, Germany and Austria, both belong to the ‘corporatist world’ of labour market policy. However, their approaches to the implementation of ALMP-reforms differ substantially which is expected to provide valuable insights into the leading questions.
