Professionals of Policies for Fighting Unemployment in France

Abstract

The increase in unemployment that occurred in France at the end of the 1970s is one aspect that has favoured the creation of jobs specializing in the field of social welfare for the unemployed. This paper focuses on the analysis of the professional group of advisers specializing in job seeking. The first section traces the circumstances of the emergence of such a group and explains the heterogeneity of these advisers who seem, nevertheless, to have developed a specific common expertise and the same interpretation of their professionalism. In the second part, the activity of these professionals is situated in the larger framework of unemployed policies which result from a combination of international, European and national influences. The study of recent changes to unemployment policies reveals the effects of the 'macro' on the 'micro' level. In the third section, it is explained that new measures of social welfare for the unemployed tend to challenge the moral and deontological principles of these advisers whose professional identity and professionalism are challenged. These challenges to their identities are due to the intensification of the follow-up of the unemployed and to the application of bureaucratic, monitoring and measurement techniques and logic to assess the efficiency of the tools for promoting a quick return to work.

Insertion as an alternative to workfare: Active labour-market schemes in the Parisian suburbs

“…By contrast, in insertion, the assistance of unemployed people ('accompagnement') is anchored in an evolving set of occupations (Fretel, 2013). Their ethos emphasizes job placement as a form of professional social work, entailing counselling and support offered to voluntary participants (Divay, 2008). Standardization and central control have increased in some areas, particularly in PE and its for-profit contractors (Divay, 2009;Lavitry, 2009).…”

“…Insertion, by contrast, remains dominated by the non-profit associations that evolved in tandem with the 20th-century welfare state (Divay, 2008;Fretel, 2007), and which operate as part of broader local networks devising and implementing social policy (Nay, 2002). Like Considine and Lewis's (2003) 'networkers', they prioritize 'negotiating with others, moving between organizations, developing new solutions to problems, or brokering deals between different parts of the public and private servicedelivery systems' (p. 138).…”

“…The landscape of providers, policymakers and funders is comparatively nonmarketized, even where work is contracted out. Front-line workers have more labour process autonomy, and providers are often non-profit associations with an ethos of addressing needs beyond job outcomes (Divay, 2008;Fretel, 2012;Morel, 2000). Local actors control employment services which are only weakly integrated with national public employment services (PES) and the benefits system (Berthet et al, 2016).…”