There is a network of institutions that most working people have never thought about. They sit quietly at the intersection of social policy and labour markets, carrying enormous responsibility and receiving relatively little public attention. They are public employment services — and they shape the employment prospects of millions of people across Europe and beyond.
NAV in Norway. Bundesagentur für Arbeit in Germany. Jobcentre Plus in the UK. Arbetsförmedlingen in Sweden. UWV in the Netherlands. Across the continent, these bodies are coordinated through the PES Network, a formal cooperation structure under the European Commission that benchmarks performance, shares practice, and tries to align policy across more than 30 member countries.
They are not relics. At their best, they are the connective tissue between people and opportunity.
What they are actually trying to do
The stated agenda of the PES Network is more ambitious than most people realise. The current strategic priorities include integrating people who are furthest from the labour market — disabled people, long-term unemployed individuals, migrants — while also managing the workforce disruptions that come from climate policy, automation, and the digital transition.
NAV, in particular, has invested seriously in supported employment approaches based on the Individual Placement and Support methodology. The idea is straightforward but the execution is hard: instead of preparing someone for a hypothetical future job, you place them into real work immediately and provide structured support around them. Evidence from multiple countries shows that this works, including for people with significant mental health conditions who were previously considered unemployable.