Evaluating the effectiveness of employment assistance measures: case of Russian state employment centers

Abstract

Russia is currently implementing the national project "Labor productivity and employment support", which is a
set of measures aimed at developing employment infrastructure and introducing organizational and
technological innovations to support employment, including standard solutions aimed at improving the
efficiency of state employment centers. This project defines the strategic directions of state regulation of the
Russian labor market.
This article deals with the issues of the population's demand for the services of employment centers, including
not only registering as unemployed but also receiving public services to assist in finding a suitable job,
vocational training, psychological support, etc. The study is based on the Russian labor force survey and
microdata of employment centers for 2019 (more than 24,000 observations). Based on the data from the labor
force survey, conclusions are drawn about the demand for the state employment centers' services among
various groups of the population and about typical combinations of applying to the employment service with
other job search channels. The analysis of regional microdata made it possible to evaluate the performance of
employment centers based on information about the socio-demographic characteristics of the unemployed,
the duration of the unemployment status, the fact of receiving benefits, the services received and the reasons
for de-registration. Based on the results of the analysis, conclusions are made about the ways to improve the
work of the state employment centers.