MDI involved in reviewing and evaluating regional experiments on labour and business services

Recently conducted regional experiments in the field of labour and business services aimed to reduce long-term unemployment and raise employment rates. The experiments were additionally tasked with preparing this service area for the new regional governance model including the changing producer structure, the development of customer-oriented employment and entrepreneurship services and the promotion of new ways to deliver services, as well as increasing the range of local services offered.

The government’s Entrepreneurship and Employment to the regions -project (YTYÄ) evaluated the experiments, based on these objectives. The research consortium consisted of Demos Helsinki, MDI and Common Dialogues. The experiments concluded at the end of 2018. The YTYÄ project report published on 7.1.2019 reflects on the experiences gained in the context of these regional experiments and the lessons learned from the subsequent experimental development of services.

The regional experiments on labour and business services provided a useful resource, prompting a debate over the future development of the national employment and business service system. Regional
experiments aimed to create customer-oriented models from the perspective of experimental development, as such, the review focused mainly on qualitative evaluation. In conjunction with the implementation of the experiments, many useful lessons were
learned in respect of the development of the public employment
services and the broader employment service system, as well as in relation to the development of experimental activities more generally.

The full report (in Finnish) can be found here.