PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT SERVICES (PES): THE ROLE OF CAREER GUIDANCE

Overview

This briefing highlights the critical role of career guidance in public employment services’ (PES) worldwide and outlines policies that can ensure effective implementation. It draws on the 2025 ICCDPP–WAPES global study of PES career guidance provision to note that:

• career guidance supports citizens to access the education, training and employment systems and that PES are one of the main ways in which career guidance is accessible to disadvantaged groups including young people and unemployed workers;
• career guidance is essential for addressing labour market mismatches, reducing unemployment, and promoting fair access to employment. It is a key part of countries labour market policies;
• effective career guidance requires qualified staff, policy support, and sustained investment.

Career guidance is not optional—it is essential for building inclusive, resilient, and future-ready labour markets. To maximise impact, governments and PES must prioritise policy frameworks, staffing, and resources that enable effective and equitable delivery of career guidance services worldwide.

Why is career guidance a key element of PES?

Public Employment Services (PES) play a central role in national labour market systems. In addition to the provision of unemployment support, they increasingly deliver career guidance services to:

• help youth to transition from education to work;
• support unemployed and underemployed adults;
• assist vulnerable groups facing barriers to employment; and
• facilitate skills matching for employers

Career guidance refers to services and activities intended to assist individuals, of any age and at any point throughout their lives, to make educational, training and occupational choices and to manage their careers. These activities may take place on an individual or group basis and may be face-to-face or at a distance (including help lines and web-based services). Such activities have an important place in PES as they describe some of the main ways in which such services can support people to develop their skills and find work.

Access the full report: https://wapes.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/iccdpp-wapes-career-guidance-in-pes-report.pdf