Overview

Report title: A stock take of applications of behavioural insights to employment policies in G20 countries​

Source: OECD ​

Year published: 2020

Sources
Categories
For Employers
Context
  • Many employment policies fail to reach disadvantaged groups due to behavioural barriers like inertia, low trust, and complex processes​
  • G20 governments are applying behavioural science to address these access frictions at system, service, and communications levels​
  • Interventions span jobseekers, employers, and intermediaries across job-matching, upskilling, and wage subsidy schemes
Outcomes
  • In Canada, behavioural nudges on job platforms (e.g. Job Bank) increased user sign-ups by 6.6% weekly, with click-through rates rising by 122%, helping low-income jobseekers complete profiles and access listings​
  • In Saudi Arabia, norm-correcting messages targeting men led to a 180% increase in job applications by women, and a 5x rise in interview participation, driving behavioural change in conservative households​
  • In France, CV anonymization and simplified employer communications reduced hiring bias and increased interview rates for low-income and minority candidates
Implications
  • Embed BI into frontline employment systems—redesign SMS, emails, and digital tools with behaviorally tested prompts to boost program uptake among disadvantaged users​
  • Make BI testing a default in labor policy pilots—integrate low-cost experiments into new schemes targeting youth employment, benefits take-up, and wage subsidies before full rollout​
  • Establish cross-ministry BI partnerships—create embedded behavioural teams working across labor, social protection, and economic planning to co-design inclusive interventions and scale what works for disadvantaged groups
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