With the enactment of the Jobs Again Act in April 2022, Greece launched an ambitious reform to address long-standing challenges in its labour market, under which DYPA has been undergoing a far-reaching transformation of its core processes, organisational structure and management, to create a more flexible governance model. The overarching goal is to make DYPA an agile public employment service fit for the future and to strengthen its role as a key player in the Greek labour market.
Digitalisation sits at the heart of this transformation. Indeed, DYPA has significantly upgraded its digital infrastructure, with almost all client services now available online. DYPA is also investing in a range of new digital tools, including a competency-based job matching tool and a performance management tool to strengthen oversight of local offices. Together, these developments amount to a fundamental modernisation of DYPA’s operating model, with the potential to substantially improve its efficiency and effectiveness over time.
Despite this impressive progress, important challenges remain. A central one is to identify and effectively support the clients furthest from the labour market. This report addresses this challenge through digital tools and more systematic data use. Drawing on international examples and on the analysis of rich DYPA administrative data linked with the employment register ERGANI, this report proposes a set of functionalities that could operate as a stand-alone digital tool or be integrated into existing DYPA’s tools. These functionalities leverage data to help DYPA systematically identify clients furthest from the labour market early on and strengthen the support they receive. The key policy recommendations for Greece are as follows:
Make profiling more data-driven and inclusive. Strengthen the current jobseeker profiling approach by systematically combining questionnaire responses with administrative data on unemployment and employment histories (including ERGANI/EFKA), benefit receipt and other relevant characteristics. This would improve segmentation, enable DYPA to prioritise those furthest from the labour market and ensure they are identified early.
Use data to inform counsellors about individual barriers to employment. Beyond identifying those furthest from the labour market, data should be used to highlight why jobseekers are at risk. A user-friendly dashboard could show, for each jobseeker, the main factors driving their distance from the labour market, helping counsellors design more individualised action plans.
Map and connect services beyond DYPA. Clients far from the labour market often face multiple, interlocking barriers that require co‑ordinated support across institutions. In collaboration with other relevant actors, DYPA could develop and maintain a mapping of local services (e.g. social, health, housing and legal support) and embed this in counsellors’ tools, making referrals to these services more systematic and comprehensive.
Provide intensive support, including through contracted-out services. Jobseekers furthest from the labour market require more intensive and sustained support than current counsellor caseloads typically allow. Carefully designed contracting-out arrangements can offer DYPA a flexible way to provide specialised, higher-intensity support, while maintaining clear quality standards and strong oversight.