Abstract

Every third, currently unemployed person in Germany has already been out of work for more than one year. According to § 18 SGB III they can be considered as long-term unemployed. The number of long-term unemployed people is stagnating at a virtually unvaried high level since 2008. Often this group of people has to face placement obstacles that hinder sustainable integration into the labor market. The question arises, how long-term unemployed can be integrated into the labor market more effective and sustainable.
Based on existing qualitative data from the project "Minimum wage in Germany – Evaluation of the exemption clause for long-term unemployed" (Mindestlohnbegleitforschung – Überprüfung der Ausnahme für Langzeitarbeitslose), the present issue should be evaluated from the point of view of the employees working in job centers. Initially the focus of this project will be to characterize the situation of the long-term unemployed. Building on those achievements, the question will be addressed, how the supervision and consultation of long-term unemployed currently take place and how these procedures could be improved from the perspective of the job centers. In addition, necessary tools for sustainable labor market integration should be described.