CONTRACTING-OUT CASE MANAGEMENT TO ENABLE YOUNG THIRD COUNTRY IMMIGRANT EMPLOYMENT-RELATED TRANSITION AND THE ROLE OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT SERVICES AND PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE AGENCY: THE CASE OF CZECH REPUBLIC
Abstract
Purpose - To look at contracting-out for case management (job search assistance, counselling) service implementation through public and private employment service agencies in Czech Republic enabling young third country immigrant employment-related transition from unemployment to all types of employment. Design/Methodology/approach - The qualitative case study was to understand the role of Local Public Employment Service (PES) and Private Employment Service agencies in contracting-out for case management service delivery to enable young third country immigrant employment-related transition from welfare to work.
Drawing on official employment-related legislative documents and scholastic text, data were collected. Data were analyse using document and thematic qualitative content analysis techniques.
Finding - Research has shown that contracting for welfare service delivery is a major trend of Public Employment Service privatisation reforms, given the enthusiasm to outsourcing (in general) with competitive multiple independent non-state service providers, assuming that private agencies are better off to meet consumers need and less bureaucratic in the implementation process. Yet, private enterprise may have too strong incentives to cut costs, which can impair their quality on services provision to hard-core unemployed (Bartlett and Le Grand 1993) people.
Similarly, local government units faced challenges with costly administrative ways to negotiate and manage private contracts for taxpayer's money due to the lack of information (Gesine 2016; Gilbert 2004: 120) and conflicting strategies to fulfil their tasks. The findings show the role of open information, delegation of authority as cooperate governance, and monitoring to guide ethical value and accountability.
This is crucial to manage taxpayer's money in time where countries are still facing financial crisis with gross domestic product deficit. Research limitations/implications - The findings of this investigation have shown that managing of taxpayer's money through contracting-out for welfare implementation is a complex policy measure.
Since the study is exclusively from a single case-oriented approach, the investigation focused only to the socio-political phenomenon in Czech Republic that is insufficiently generalized to explain the phenomenon in countries not included in the study leading to low external validity. Moreover, this study focuses mainly on young third country immigrant employment-related transition from welfare to work in Czech Republic.
Thus, irregular and undocumented third country immigrants are not part of this study. Analysing research findings with the lens of contracting-out model, assumes that human beings actions are rational bounded with self-interest and opportunism.
Using principal-agent theory in contracting-out case management study allows the investigation to specify tasks as well as how controlling and monitoring over private agencies and bonding mechanism serve as prerequisite for principal's (PES) managerial duty to enable young third country immigrant's from welfare to work. Practical implications - By exploring Contracting-out for case management study, the process widen current understanding how corporate partnership seek officials (principal) and employment agencies (agent) opportunity to agree and improve young third country immigrants' situations.
Also, the researcher hopes this research contribution would stimulate further study in active policy measure implementation and governance. In addition, it is vital that the outcome of this research offers other observation and approach of the researcher about the implementation and governance of activation policy measures to enable young third country immigrant's employment-related transition.
Hence, the most important contribution is not the achievement, but to enable pathways for further study in third country national's research. Originality/Value - This research is considering the distinctiveness of third country national's heterogeneous group's sub-category as a focused group to enrich the real community and foster social cohesion.
There is still little rigorous empirical evidence to justify the delivery of case management services in several CEE countries and there are needs to fill this knowledge gap. This study enriches this line of qualitative research and concentrates in particular on the group of young third country immigrants among the heterogeneous groups of third country nationals