Service: Unemployed Profiling

As early as in 2012, the Polish Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP) started working on the reform of 340 labour offices (PUP - Powiatowe Urzędy Pracy), charged with analysing the trends and supporting the development of the labour market. The urgency of the reform was underlined by a general perception of PUPs being inefficient, understaffed and unfit to address the challenges posed by the modern labour market. With that reform in mind - and without significant public spending increases at hand – the MLSP has scoped possible solutions that would ensure more efficient budget allocation. In this light, resorting to an automated profiling system for unemployment came across as a modern, cost efficient and individualized method of service delivery. The process of automated profiling divides unemployed persons in three categories, taking into consideration a number of individual characteristics. Assignment to a given category determines what types of programs a beneficiary is eligible for (e.g. job placement, vocational training, apprenticeship, activation allowance). The system is based on data collected during an initial interview (e.g.. age, gender, disability and duration of unemployment), and a subsequent computer-based test that scores 24 different dimensions. Assignment to one of the three profile groups indicates the needed level of support and resource burden. Importantly, in one case categorisation translates into life-changing, binary decisions: state support or lack thereof.