ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by analysing the context, including the policy context, that is, the evolution of the legal framework for supporting the unemployed, which is linked to the development of activation policies, as well as that of the profiles and recruitment of advisers in the public employment services (PES). It examines frontline workers' professional practices. The basis for this investigation will be a study of 200 meetings between advisers and jobseekers in jobcentres carried out between 2008 and 2010. To conclude, the chapter highlights the fact that deep divisions have reawakened that were present among advisers on the use of coercion in their dealings with the unemployed and regard equality of treatment and the degree of direction and control. The evolution of the PES from the 2000s onwards is characterized by a marked tendency towards the standardization of support and codification, reflected in both the systematization of service content and increasing emphasis on a rapid return to work.
