Divergent Institutional Logics—Implementing Supported Employment in Hybrid Contexts of Danish Public Employment Services

Abstract

Evidence-based supported employment (SE) is increasingly implemented in Danish public employment services (PES), which can create conflicts between old and new ways of working. Our study examines the implementation of an SE intervention based on modified Individual Placement and Support (IPS) in three Danish municipal job centres. The intervention targets young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) with less severe mental health problems. The role of middle managers and supervisors is crucial in implementing the SE intervention into the existing organisational framework, procedures, norms and beliefs. Our analysis is founded on repeated interviews with three middle managers and supervisors from 2019 to 2023. Theoretically, this article is informed by the conceptualisation of institutional logics. Our empirical findings show some tensions associated with the evidence-based approach's values and organising principles. However, pressures arise in daily practices related to mandatory activation, organisational structures, workflows, frontline roles, job development and caseloads. Middle managers and supervisors pursue strategic responses such as compartmentalisation and combination to navigate contradictory or sometimes even conflicting logics.