During the World Employment Conference 2015, Ciett’s MD, Denis Pennel was the moderator of a rather interesting panel debate about the cooperation between public and private employment services. The participants were Thérèse Rein, founder of Ingeus, Lenka Kint, executive secretary of WAPES, and Agostino di Maio, General Manager of Assolavoro.

Rein stated that it is important to keep up with the skills that the labour market demands and that the use of data analyses is very useful to screen emerging skills among people. She also pointed out that political frameworks affect public-private cooperation and when Pennel asked whether she thought there are similar trends in different countries, Rein said that, despite local differences, governments are showing an increasing interest on public-private employment services.

Another topic of discussion was if public services should focus on the most vulnerable jobseekers, while private services focus on the rest. Kint stated that both must do both, meaning that both, public and private services, must focus on what they do best, cooperating and working together. She claimed that if there is a division on the kind of jobseeker that each service focuses on, this can actually make things more difficult for jobseekers, as employers may tend to look for candidates in a certain kind of service and not in the other. The important thing to do with vulnerable jobseekers according to Kint is to train them.

Di Maio pointed out that there is a revolution going on in Italy, in which people are being put in the centre of attention. The labour market is undergoing reforms that aim to help people get more and better jobs.

Also, the panel came to the conclusion that targeting specific groups of people and considering every aspect involved in recruitment are necessary elements to enable a coordinated approach of employment services.

The most efficient labour market in the world show a close relationship between public and private employment services.

In Latin America the articulation between public and private employment services is a challenge of vital importance. With proper articulation it is possible to reach more effectiveness during transitions and to develop training actions on skills demanded by the labour market.