The Complementary Role of Employment Agencies and Public Employment Services on the Labour Market

Over the past twenty years we have witnessed important changes in the model of institutional infrastructure of the labour market in many countries. Public Employment Services (PES) have lost their monopoly in job-broking services, vocational guidance etc. As a consequence, there has been a dynamic growth in the number of private and non-profit organizations rendering a broad range of services both to employers and employees. There is opportunity for cooperation (or competition) between employment agencies and PES, especially when the institutions deal with the same client, and there is also room for complementarity when the institutions operate in different segments of the labour market