Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs)

The rise of unemployment and exclusion from the labour market in the late 1960s/70s and early 1980s in Europe marks the development and growing role of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) in welfare societies. Their mission was to help unemployed and excluded people to get (back) into employment. WISEs are social enterpises, i.e ; organisations focusing on social value creation,, be it work inclusion for disadvantaged people at large, to foster the development of deprived areas or to contribute to social cohesion. Exclusion from the labour market is viewed as a collective problem that should be resolved by society as a whole and linked to a specific territory. The concept of « disadvantaged  people » has enlarged its meaning to people who have experienced prison or probation, people with disabilities, etc.

WISEs aim at social and professional integration with a strong pedagogical and socialization dimension (access to education, training, professionalisation, etc). They are present in different areas : mainly waste management and circular economy but also social farming or home care services. Their impact is not only social and economical, it has got an impact through recycling on environmental protection, responsible consumption and production through collection of waste and recycling or reconditioning of materials) But as enterprises, of course, they also need to be economically viable . They have moreover a strong partnership relation with public policies through public financing and policies about welfare or employment. They are, for example, a potential source for responsible public procurement and policies linked to green and resilient cities.

Beyond enterprises, the sector is very heterogeneous and composed of a diversity of organizations, assuming different forms all around Europe. There exists centers with work adapted for people with disabilities, for example.

One interesting experimentation, a true social innovation dates from 2014. ATD Quart Monde, an association that deals with disadvantaged people in France launched three years later the first : Territoires Zéro chômeur de Longue Durée that combines local/territorial proximity with employment for people who have long been out of the work market. The idea is to create an organisation- an “organization à but d’emploi” - that aims :

• to give employment with a long term contract at minimum wage where the person can choose to be part-time or more ;
• create useful non competitive activities on the territory (usually a municipality) : recycling, solidarity-based garage, short supply chains, care services, etc., but able to create a small profit ;
• finance these new jobs without additional costs for the public finance.

How ? First by putting the local stakeholders together (and not a top-down social policy). Secondly, by reallocating the government direct and indirect costs of unemployment (minimum social income, lost tax revenue, etc.).

More than giving back employment, it offers the feeling associated with a regular income and a long term contract. As well as that of being useful to society, social insertion. self-confidence, trust, community, care for the others and the environment in a specific territory, links between public authorities and citizens, better health. As a political position, it raises employment as a right and the territory as a specific social, political, economical, environmental space that proposes its own solution through collective reflexion and forms of implementation.

Equivalent concepts

Work integration ; Social integration trhough employment; Structures d’Insertion par l’Activité Économique (SIAE);

Main networks working on this issue

ENSIE : European Network for Social Integration Enterprises - Réseau européen des entreprises sociales d’insertion

Links

With socioeco.org

Matching Socioeco.org thematic keyword

With Ripess NL articles or position papers

• ENSIE #BuyResponsible Campaign, article from the RIPESS Europe newsletter - December 2021
• `EU Regions Week: event on a Just and Inclusive transition, article from the RIPESS Europe newsletter - November 2021 by Pauline Bonino
• Winners of the Wise Manager Award 2020, article from the RIPESS Europe newsletter - December 2020 by Patrizia Bussi , European Network of Social Integration Enterprises (ENSIE)
• Specific support measures in time of Covid19, article from the RIPESS Europe newsletter - April 2020
• Meet Ana Silva, CRESAÇOR (Fajã de Baixo, Portugal), article from the RIPESS Europe newsletter - Summer 2021 , by Ana Silva.

Other glossaries

• Work Integration and Social Enterprises, 2022, UNTFSSE