Abstract
Public employment services (PES) have been recognized in the mandate of the ILO since its creation. The ILO Convention on Unemployment, 1919 (No. 2) recognized the role of employment services and promoted the establishment of national employment services in all member States. The role of public employment services was fully elaborated at the international level with the adoption of the ILO Employment Service Convention, 1948 (No. 88). Both jobseekers and employers are customers of employment services, both public and private, and most national employment services are guided by an advisory body that reinforces the principles of social dialogue between government, employers, and workers. The Practitioners’ guides on employment service centres (hereafter referred to as “the Guides”) are designed to assist member States, including within Asia and the Pacific, to improve labour market efficiency and participation, reduce unemployment, and enhance linkages and information flows between jobseekers and employers. This is consistent with the core elements of the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda, which emphasizes the creation of productive employment and skills development to increase the employability of workers, the competitiveness of enterprises, and the inclusiveness of growth.