Going nowhere to getting somewhere: suspending time while unemployed

This article explores the temporal navigations of vulnerable unemployed people in two employment interventions based on supported employment (SE) and individual placement and support (IPS), respectively, in a Danish employment service context. Temporal navigations are particularly interesting given active labour market policy (ALMP) assumptions of linearity and progression in the development of the unemployed. The article is based on an analysis of interview data derived from two cases involving 25 unemployed individuals, 14 public employment service (PES) specialists, and four employees working in psychiatric services. The article explores the way in which the unemployed deploy various temporal navigations, such as enacting employed futures, as well as suspending time, thereby circumventing the linearity of standardized employment services. The experience of the vulnerable unemployed is often characterized by being ‘out of sync’ with working society, and most employment interventions are intended to help these individuals become in sync once more. The article argues that to create helpful employment services for vulnerable unemployed, these services must accommodate non-linear experiences of time by taking seriously the subjective temporality of the people they aim to support.