Neoliberal restructuring blurs the state/market boundary in introducing the position of ‘private state workers’: employees of for-profit providers who deliver publicly funded, state-prescribed services. Despite their prevalence, these workers have received scant scholarly attention. Addressing this gap, this article studies Employment Goal Planners (EGPs) employed at private for-profit providers of activation services in Israel. Drawing on extensive ethnographic observation and in-depth interviews, it argues that far from detached ‘mercenaries’, private state workers are committed actors who advance a distinct vision of public service delivery suited to the neoliberal state. These workers navigate their liminal position along an ever-shifting state/market divide by intertwining contemporary market tropes onto outdated schemas of state work. While the literature commonly views the market as an imposition on public service workers, this study finds that the market can also serve as a resource for inspiring alternative public service ethics and work models.

新自由主义的改组在引入“私人国家工人”的职位时模糊了州/市场的界限：提供公共资助的，国家规定的服务的营利性提供者的雇员。尽管这些工人普遍存在，但他们在学术上很少受到关注。为了解决这一差距，本文研究了以色列的私人非营利性激活服务提供商所雇用的就业目标规划师（EGP）。通过广泛的人种学观察和深入访谈，该研究认为，私人国家工人不是独立的“雇佣兵”，而是忠诚的参与者，他们提出了与新自由主义国家相适应的独特的公共服务提供构想。这些工人通过将当代市场的主题交织到过时的政府工作模式上，沿着不断变化的州/市场鸿沟来导航自己的关键职位。