The PES Network has released a new study examining how Public Employment Services (PES) can support individuals across their working lives in labour markets shaped by digitalisation, green transitions, demographic shifts and non-linear career trajectories.
Lifelong career guidance is a continuous process that supports individuals to identify their capacities, make informed decisions about learning and work, and manage their careers. By fostering adaptability and resilience, lifelong career guidance supports transitions, facilitating upskilling and reskilling to reduce skills mismatches and it also contributes to social justice and equitable growth by ensuring access for diverse groups, including youth, older workers, and those in vulnerable situations.
PES are uniquely positioned to deliver lifelong career guidance that supports individuals across their working lives, enabling sustainable integration into the labour market and social inclusion. The study supports strategic-level decision-making within the PES Network with a particular focus on the evolving role and strategic value of lifelong career guidance.
The study maps the current state of lifelong career guidance services within PES, identifies gaps and opportunities to enhance the effectiveness of these services, and showcases case studies that have demonstrated success in improving employment outcomes. The study also provides eight forward-looking recommendations to reinforce lifelong career guidance and advance EU policy objectives for skills development, inclusion and labour market resilience.
Key findings
- Lifelong career guidance systems across the EU are diverse and fragmented. Most PES deliver career guidance as part of active labour market programmes (ALMPS) with access to services differing between PES. While many countries embed career guidance within education or employment legislation, only a few have dedicated lifelong career guidance legislation.
- PES are adapting to support a career-first model. The model better prioritises individual agency, sustainable integration into the labour market, career development and progression.
- Hybrid models have become the norm to deliver lifelong career guidance.
PES are combining digital self-service tools with personalised in-person or online counselling, hybrid models have become the norm. As a result, new skills have been introduced for PES counsellors, including digital literacy, data interpretation, and the ability to guide individuals through online platforms and self-service tools.
- Lifelong career guidance operates within a wider ecosystem bringing together education, employment, social services and community settings to form cross-sector partnerships at system level. These partnerships enable PES to help align education, training and employment pathways.
- PES are increasingly acting as strategic brokers of adaptation to the new world of work by combining guidance, skills assessment, labour market intelligence, targeted training pathways and partnership-based support.
- Assessing the impact of lifelong career guidance remains challenging because outcomes are often long-term, indirect and shaped by wider labour market and policy conditions.
Further information:
Read the full study here to find out more about lifelong career guidance.
The PES Network Knowledge Centre and PES Practices database also have a wide range of information and inspiring practices on the organisation and services of Public Employment Services across Europe.
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