PRIVATE JOB PLACEMENT

Private Job Placement Services in Argentina

This impact evaluation was conducted on a MIF project that sought to improve and expand private job intermediation services in Argentina.

MAIN FINDINGS

• The job intermediation services developed through the project achieved sustained benefits and a degree of financial sustainability overtime, expanding services to 9 sub-national regions, reaching more than 5,000 businesses, and securing more than 11,000 job positions in the 2002-2009 period. Close to 80% of job seekers that were successfully placed obtained formal jobs with benefits.
• More than 90% of clients seeking job intermediation services were micro- or small businesses, which usually lack a human resource department or face difficulties in finding and effectively assessing job candidates. This finding suggests that job intermediation services could be an effective tool for contributing to micro- and small business competitiveness.
• The strong commitment, leadership and technical expertise on the part of the executing agency are considered key success factors in the observed outcomes.  Also, project design was carried out through a participatory process with a strong involvement from the executing agency and local MIF officers.
• The contribution of IDB-MIF “brand” was critical for achieving the observed success. The association of the executing agency with IDB-MIF increased its credibility and facilitated access to a wide network of institutions.  This highlights the importance of MIF´s non-financial value-added.
• More impact could have been achieved if marketing efforts were increased in the promotion of the use of labor intermediation services, which continue to be relatively unknown and underused in Argentina.
• While the executing agency has maintained a close interaction with national and local public institutions, a significant influence on public policies could not be demonstrated. Moreover, the labor intermediation market remains relatively underdeveloped with no new providers.
• Another critical challenge was related to the complexities of implementing and maintaining a project with decentralized operations in a broad geographical region. When confronted with similar contexts, the evaluation recommends including additional resources for project implementation, especially for strengthening and monitoring decentralized units, and estimating more realistic timeframes during design.