Smoke and Mirrors, The Illusion of the Employment Services Sector pulls back the curtain on the dark side of outcome based, government funded employment services. Despite the billions of tax dollars invested, the sector itself has become a significant barrier to employment for underrepresented groups, the very populations it is funded to serve. With the demand for ‘good news!’ stories to propel governments to election wins, the problem is created by politicians, perpetuated by public servants, and sustained by employment service providers- all magicians behind the illusion.

Smoke and Mirrors reveals the secrets that have perpetuated a broken employment system for at least 3 decades. Now is the time for the big reveal as never before has there been such interest in the future of work from so many players: government, employment service providers, education, industry, academia, evaluators, sector-specific associations, and business consultants. No doubt most of these players know the tricks and would like to be part of the solution.

Although there is no silver bullet solution, there are things that can and must be done. In this book, Sarah and Angela present practical solutions - thrivival practices - to nudge the employment service sector in the right direction.