Europe’s Public Employment Services (PES) are operating in a ‘new normal’ of hybrid working and blended, online and on-site, services. Listen to the latest episode of PESPod – the podcast of the European PES Network – to hear what this is meaning for the way that PES are adapting their approaches to not only service delivery, but the way they support and train their staff.

Listen to the latest episode of PESPod to hear Łukasz Sienkiewicz a PES expert and an academic at Gdańsk University of Technology (Politechnika Gdańska) in Poland, talk about the latest trends in Public Employment Services as they continue to adapt to a changing labour market and evolving working practices. Łukasz has a wealth of information to share as the lead author of the November 2022 PES Network report on PES staff management – challenges in the ‘new normal'.

Hear how PES have responded to the short-term changes caused by Covid-19 in terms of “the re‑allocation of staff towards the services that were needed the most”, but also which Łukasz considers to be the most significant longer-term changes impacting PES and their management practices.

Understand why key recent trends have triggered the need for PES to provide training and onboarding for both staff and management with regards to new ways of working and an increased focus on measures to promote both the physical and mental well-being of employees in contexts of remote and hybrid working environments.

Looking beyond the messages of the survey report, Łukasz presents his wider knowledge and experience with good practice PES measures. Hear about how the Dutch PES (UWV) has been moving from an ‘occupation-based’ model to a ‘skills-based’ taxonomy and use of artificial intelligence (AI) to support improved job matching between jobseekers and employers.

Such models can also provide a good basis on which to establish training or retraining measures building on people’s existing skills. This is increasingly important in a context of emerging skills requirements relating to the digital transformation and the greening of the economy.

Download this episode wherever you listen to your podcasts or listen online. Any comments about PESPod or relevant topics for future episodes? Write to us at: EMPL-PES-SECRETARIAT@ec.europa.eu.