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We analysed a new counselling and support programme for people with low employment prospects in Austria. The Austrian Public Employment Service introduced regional pilots to investigate whether a new counselling strategy could improve labour market outcomes for this group. Eligible unemployed individuals could opt for third‐party counselling and support, access a wide range of low‐threshold services, and focus on personal stability rather than job placement. The goal was to achieve similar or even better labour market outcomes at lower cost. By comparing pilot and control regions, we found that introducing the offer resulted in higher costs without improving labour market outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In direct job-creation schemes, unemployed individuals at risk of permanent labor market exclusion are offered temporary subsidized employment in public- or nonprofit-sector firms in combination with skills training and sociopedagogical support. The main aim is to stabilize and qualify them for later re-integration into the regular labor market. Exploiting exogenous regional variation in population-group-specific program capacities, I find that, on average, such a program eases the transition out of unemployment but has no long-term effect on regular employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]