A purpose of guidance active labour employment as a policy

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is threefold: 1st) to analyse the contextual framework for the development of social and occupational guidance, 2nd) to describe the career guidance sub-systems and their interaction, 3rd) to review the meaning of labour insertion as an impact factor that evaluates the quality of the service, and 4th) to show perverse effects of guidance as an active employment policy. The methodology used is based on the compilation and analysis of secondary sources and it evolves from the study of the bibliography and regulation, as well as of specific current research related to career guidance in Spain.  As a result of this research work, the fragmentation of the guidance mechanisms in Spain has been verified, but also the emerging connections between such mechanisms. The recent career guidance aimed at workers in active employment offers key elements that could extend these connections. These include making the profile of the target population more flexible, guaranteeing voluntary access to the service, introducing a thorough revision of the work concept or promoting practice-based research. By way of conclusion, we suggest that vocational guidance needs to be re-positioned: the Law on Qualifications and Vocational Education needs to be developed. Furthermore, vocational guidance can no longer be measured by its adjustment between market needs and workers' competencies. Integration and re-integration are questioned as evaluative criteria of the system, as control mechanisms of the regulatory discourses.