Public Employment Services' Responses to the Pandemic: Examples from Portugal, Bulgaria, and Lithuania

Ana Sofia Ribeiro, Vladislava Lendzhova, Sonata Vyšniauskienė, Tatiana Ferreira, João Carlos Sousa, Isabel Roque, Kerli Kõiv, Katrin Saks, Omeed Agahi, Òscar Prieto‐Flores and Niall O’Higgins
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Ana Sofia Ribeiro: Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Vladislava Lendzhova: South‐West University “Neofit Rilski,” Bulgaria
Sonata Vyšniauskienė: Institute of Sociology and Social Work, Vilnius University, Lithuania
Tatiana Ferreira: School of Education, Polytechnic Institute of Santarém, Portugal
João Carlos Sousa: Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Isabel Roque: Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Kerli Kõiv: Institute of Education, University of Tartu, Estonia
Katrin Saks: Institute of Education, University of Tartu, Estonia
Omeed Agahi: Department of Education and Psychology, University of Girona, Spain
Òscar Prieto‐Flores: Department of Education and Psychology, University of Girona, Spain
Niall O’Higgins: International Labour Organization, Switzerland / Department of Economic Sciences and Statistics (DIES), University of Salerno, Italy
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Shane Niall Niall O'Higgins

Politics and Governance, 2024, vol. 12

Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic provoked critical changes to welfare in Europe, requiring the dematerialisation of programmes and services while relying mainly on remote support. This study aims to present insights into how European public employment services have coped and adapted to the pandemic challenges, particularly regarding the digitalisation and delivery of services to young people in rural areas. It focuses on three case studies from distinct European regions: Portugal, Bulgaria, and Lithuania. It is based on an exploratory survey of public employment services national offices and qualitative data collected from public employment services offices in rural settings. It highlights the advantages and dangers of the adoption of digitalisation processes, namely considering literacy and accessibility in diverse contexts. It concludes that despite cultural and regional differences, all three countries evidenced an acceleration in service provision due to digitalisation and were capable of adjusting their practices to remote delivery. However, rural areas faced delays due to poor infrastructure, and after the pandemic, public employment privileged on-site delivery, since it is considered more effective in the training and counselling of young people.

Keywords: Bulgaria; Covid‐19; digitalisation; Lithuania; Portugal; public employment services (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cog:poango:v12:y:2024:a:7437

DOI: 10.17645/pag.7437

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