Bortom anställningsbarhet? En studie av kommunala arbetsmarknadssekreterares uppdrag

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study is to better understand the goals and tasks of municipal activation workers, inquire into their perceived ability to establish their clients on the labor market, and examine their handling of hard-to-activate clients. The data was gathered through individual interviews with six activation workers who were all part of the same municipality. Four of them worked with youths and young adults, one of them worked with clients who had psychiatric diagnoses, and one worked with adults above the age of 30. The interviews suggest that the municipal activation workers endeavor to encourage characteristics in their clients that can be compared to the neoliberal homo-economicus ideal described by Foucault. The activation workers attempted to help their clients toward employability through mostly personal, psychological means, which led to them experiencing a disconnect with the statistical reporting system of the municipal activation services. The interviews also suggest that the activation process can be viewed as circular since clients often reentered the municipal activation services after they had been discharged and statistically categorized as employed. The position of the activation workers could be likened to that of street-level bureaucrats, and they tried to work according to organizational goals, the interests of the client, and the limits of the labor market in order to steer their clients toward more permanent employment. Clients who remained in the activation services for a long time could be handled through a medicalization of their struggles. The municipal activation workers were also torn on how to view the more hard-to-activate clients. Some meant they had to accept the impossibility of instilling employability in certain clients, while others highlighted the importance of holding on to hope.