Introduction

This chapter frames the book Digital Public Employment Services in Action, starting with the overarching ambitions and purpose of public employment services (PES), which is once again at stake in the generational shift to digital-first, software-defined welfare. Animating and guiding existing digital transformations is the technological aspirations of policy makers; and so the volume sets out to bring research from practice, and the longue durée of research on PES to explore the functional challenges. Before introducing the book structure, this chapter makes the case for focusing on the lived experiences of front-line workers and the unemployed who use and rely on PES, so that we can bridge the gap between policy theory and the realities of digital transformation