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Contrasting Supply-side, Demand-side and Combined Approaches to Labour Market Integration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

KJETIL FRØYLAND Open the ORCID record for KJETIL FRØYLAND [Opens in a new window] ,
TONE ALM ANDREASSEN  and
SIMON INNVÆR
KJETIL FRØYLAND
Affiliation:
Work Research Institute, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway email: kjetil.froyland@oslomet.no
TONE ALM ANDREASSEN
Affiliation:
Center for the Study of Professions, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway email: toaa@oslomet.no
SIMON INNVÆR
Affiliation:
Institute of Social Work, Faculty of Social Science, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway email: simoinn@oslomet.no
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Abstract

In social policy discussions about activation or ALMP (Active Labour Market Policies), most attention is paid to supply-side approaches, directed towards jobless individuals. In these discussions, little attention is given to demand-side approaches aimed at activating employers, or combined workplace-oriented approaches that combine supply and demand-side elements. The aim of this article is to introduce demand-side and combined approaches developed within the fields of disability policy and vocational rehabilitation to scholarly discussions about activation and ALMP.

By comparing these three approaches, we show that demand-side and combined approaches challenge key assumptions underlying the dominant supply-side approaches. They do so by representing different views of a) work – as a right instead of a duty; b) the problem of reduced work capacity – not as individual failure, but rather as a prejudice in attitudes among employers or as a gap between capacities and demands; c) the employers and the labour market – as transformable instead of fixed.

Supply-side, demand-side and combined workplace-oriented approaches share the aim of labour market integration; however, their developments seem to have taken place largely in isolation from each other. We argue that when brought together they could form a more comprehensive base for further development of labour market integration.

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Article
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Journal of Social Policy , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , April 2019 , pp. 311 - 328
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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