Although often neglected, the availability of employment opportunities is central to the effectiveness of active labour market policies. Employers play a crucial role in this policy field as they are both clients and co-producers of public employment services (PES). This study focuses on that relationship and reports qualitative research conducted in Tuscany (central Italy) from a street-level perspective. The findings show how public job-brokers manage this asymmetrical relationship and develop specific strategies to obtain employers’ cooperation and accomplish the PES mandate. The strategies identified here involve language adaptation, curricula “creaming”, and control of the bureaucratic procedure. These are shaped through a variable mix of four components that will be defined as relational, perceptive, technical, and tactical. This study contributes to the debate on activation policies, analysing in detail how PES frontline workers interact with employers, dealing with market logic in the public encounter.

中文翻译：

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陷入反向不对称：与雇主打交道的公共就业服务

尽管经常被忽视，但就业机会的可用性对于积极的劳动力市场政策的有效性至关重要。雇主在这一政策领域发挥着至关重要的作用，因为他们既是公共就业服务（PES）的客户又是共同生产者。本研究侧重于这种关系，并从街道层面的角度报告了在托斯卡纳（意大利中部）进行的定性研究。调查结果显示公共职业经纪人如何管理这种不对称关系并制定具体策略以获得雇主的合作并完成 PES 任务。这里确定的策略涉及语言适应、课程“奶油化”和官僚程序的控制。这些是通过四个组成部分的可变组合形成的，这些组成部分将被定义为关系、感知、技术和战术。