Public Administration in the Era of Late Neo-Liberalism

Abstract

This contribution deals with tensions employees of public employment services have to face in their working routine. Empirically, the authors rely on the participant observation of counselling interviews in employment agencies, flanked by semi-structured interviews with job-seekers and their respective agency personnel. These data has been collected as part of an extensive qualitative evaluative research project at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB). The findings indicate that under the New Public Management regime the work of the placement personnel is structured differently: On the one hand the job placement professionals are labour market experts with an extended scope of action. In counselling interviews the job placement officers interact with job seekers and provide advice and monitor the individual behaviour of job seekers. On the other hand all decisions of the placement professionals are checked by a close meshed accounting system and revised if they contradict the organizational business logic.