ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the governance landscape shaping the Social Insurance Agency (SIA) and the Public Employment Service (PES), focusing on policy, governance, organizational, and occupational contexts. The chapter highlights how policy changes in the active labour market and sickness insurance policies have constrained eligibility, promoting activation and reintegration. We highlight shifts in governance approaches, with New Public Management principles (NPM) being supplemented by trust-based management. Organizationally, SIA’s structure emphasizes rule compliance and legal precision, whereas the PES adopts a more adaptive, client-focused model. Occupationally, caseworkers in both organizations lack a common educational background, yet their roles differ with SIA’s staff specialising in eligibility assessments and PES personnel engaging in job placement and tailored support for diverse client groups. This contextual framework underpins the book’s empirical analysis, illustrating the complexities caseworkers face as they balance regulatory demands with professional discretion.
