The temporal structure of job centres affects both unemployed citizens and employees

The aim of Danish job centres is clear: long-term unemployed individuals must gain employment or education as quickly as possible. But the pace and fixed frameworks that employment pathways are structured around can be difficult for some unemployed citizens to partake in.

This is shown in a new study from the National Institute of Public Health.

PhD student Carl Johannes Middelboe has examined how time plays a crucial role in the perception of job centre pathways – for both unemployed citizens and employees. His conclusion is clear: there is a fundamental tension between the everyday lives of unemployed citizens and the system’s ambitions for progress and efficiency.

“Several citizens feel that the activities they are required to take part in during their job centre pathways lead nowhere. They are presented with activation schemes, work placements and other initiatives that hold great value for the system, but they do not experience these pathways as meaningful,” says Carl Johannes Middelboe.

“This can create frustration for both citizens and employees, because the very same activities are seen by employees as crucial for moving the case forward and strengthening the citizens’ greatest possible participation in the labour market.”

Clashing understandings of time

The study, recently published in the journal Time & Society, is based on interviews with 28 long-term unemployed individuals categorized as “activity-ready,” focus groups with job centre staff, and observations of unemployed citizens’ meetings in a job centre. It shows that the job centres’ “institutional time” — characterized by regular meetings, documentation requirements and target management — at times collides with how citizens perceive their own needs and health status.

“The target group is typically disconnected from the labour market due to complex social and health-related challenges. That affects how they experience the job centre’s temporal structure. And when they don’t find the programmes meaningful, they would rather prioritize their health and take care of themselves than participate in the pathway initiatives,” says Carl Johannes Middelboe.

Employees are affected too

It is not only unemployed citizens who must conform to the system’s framework. Employees are also affected by the temporal logic they are expected to follow, including strict documentation and efficiency requirements. Among other things, they must ensure that meetings with citizens are held at a specific frequency.

At the same time, they are expected to engage the citizens in their cases.

“Employees experience working under significant time pressure, where they must manage large caseloads — meaning they have to keep track of and follow up on many different cases simultaneously. And their work becomes even more difficult when clients don’t see the activities as meaningful,” explains Carl Johannes Middelboe.

“For the employees, a key part of the job is trying to shift how clients see their own situation — so they understand the purpose of participating in the pathway and the case can move forward in line with the institutional understanding of time.”

Time should be considered

The study shows that it cannot be assumed that clients and staff assign the same meaning to the initiatives put in place. And this lack of shared understanding can hinder both motivation and progress.

“The system’s temporal structure influences the experience of progress and meaningfulness, which is essential for both clients and staff. That’s why it is important to consider how time is organised and perceived when designing job centre pathways,” says Carl Johannes Middelboe.

Contact: PhD student Carl Johannes Middelboe, Tel: +45 6550 4685, Email: carm@sdu.dk, National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark