In this project, WRI and Proba will examine how Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration's (NAV) caseworkers understand and uphold the objective of meeting employers’ needs for labour (a “market perspective”).
The aim of the project is to generate knowledge about how NAV can organise its efforts in a way that benefits both users and employers, especially ensuring that job seekers enter employment they are able to retain over time. We will focus on caseworkers’ perspectives, discretion, and tools.
With NAV’s caseworkers as the focal point, the planned analyses will explore:
- How external conditions influence the way NAV offices understand, organise, and carry out their efforts towards employers.
- How NAV offices structure their employer-oriented work at the local level.
- How caseworkers understand NAV’s goals related to employer engagement and their own role in this work.
- How this understanding is translated into day-to-day practice.
The project will be based on three main components:
- A document analysis of key policy and strategy documents, such as white papers and strategies at the national and local level.
- Case studies conducted at NAV offices in selected counties.
- A quantitative analysis of how caseworkers use labour market measures and other tools available to them.
