1. Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research EAER State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO Labour market and unemployment insurance Promoting dynamism and measuring innovation at regional level The Swiss experience WAPES Conference - Paris, November 2014 Olivier Nussbaum - SECO

2. WAPES Paris November 2014 2 Stages in the development of the active policy in Switzerland Pre-1995 1996 - 1999 Since 2000 3000 local offices  Very different levels of resources, activities, professionalism and results Creation of 120 regional employment offices  Managed based on resources and activities (input - output)  Professionalisation, switch to national and regional level Maintaining the regional employment offices  Management based on results (outcome)  Innovation at regional level

3. WAPES Paris November 2014 3 Why innovation at regional level? Unemployment rate, 10/2014 KEY: > 4.0% 3.1 – 4.0% 2.0 – 3.0% < 2.0% Unemployment: 3.1%

4. WAPES Paris November 2014 4 Measuring innovation at regional level By means of measuring results (outcome) Results indicators for each regional employment office 4 indicators targeting the fast and sustainable return to employment for job seekers: length of time unemployed, long-term unemployment, people exhausting their rights to benefits, re- registration Weighted indicators to enable calculation of an overall indicator A simple econometric model, making it possible to take into account regional situations, allowing a comparison of results from different regional employment offices and Cantons  The most innovative regional employment offices will have the best results

5. WAPES Paris November 2014 5 Conditions for innovation at regional level Stable legal framework Financial framework suitable for planning Implemented base processes Stable and negotiated results-linked objectives Establishing competition through performance measurement Support to improve the lowest performers Transparency and assessment

6. WAPES Paris November 2014 6 Restrictions and obstacles to innovation Legal framework Financial framework Centralised I.T. systems Too much competition

7. WAPES Paris November 2014 7 Innovations at regional level Innovations concerning the 4 instruments of the active policy, which are: Advice: adapted to the individual needs of job seekers and to the economic situation Placement: adapted to the local economic structure Qualification: wide range of measures from the labour market Inspection and sanctions: the actions required of the job seeker are adapted to his/her circumstances

8. WAPES Paris November 2014 8 Conclusion Innovation at regional level in Switzerland, as part of the active labour market policy, is: Encouraged by the law Promoted by the national authorities Experienced by the regional authorities Measurable using results (outcome) Recognised by the world of politics

9. WAPES Paris November 2014 9 Thank you for your attention! olivier.nussbaum@seco.admin.ch / www.seco.admin.ch