CENTRI PER L'IMPIEGO ANNO ZERO. Una storia critica per discuterne

The expression "zero year" is used in a rhetorical sense to indicate ambivalent feelings such as a sense of rebirth, intentions to start again, hope for the future, expectations of change, affirmation of new ideas and solutions, but also anguish for the present and criticism for the past. It is with the first state of mind that the Author has approached this study, convinced that the System of Public Employment Service is at the current historical moment at a crossroads that allows us to glimpse possible and interesting prospects for change. After a histori-cal-evolutionary reconstruction of the role of the State in the labor market aimed at understanding the meaning that active policies have assumed during the twentieth century, the Author takes into considera-tion the institutional, economic, organizational and managerial aspects of public employment services in our country in order to identify their strengths and weaknesses. The text then focuses on the still little studied topic of professionalism in services, illustrating its roles and skills. The last part is dedicated to the relationships between the State and private intermediaries, both profit and non-profit, which nowa-days constitute an important category of actors in public intermedia-tion processes.