Dilemma in Providing Human Services Under Transactional Contracting: A Case Study of Korea's Public Employment Service

Scholars argue that human services should be contracted through relational rather than transactional contracting because of contract management costs and perfunctory behavior. However, the empirical research on the consequences of transactional contracting for human services is limited. Based on interviews with service providers of contractors for the Employment Success Package Program in South Korea, this study examines the perceptions, experiences, and behaviors of frontline service providers and their implications for service quality when human services are provided under a strict transactional contracting model. Under strict hierarchical relationships with and control of the government, workers experience stress, anxiety, skepticism, and loss of professional identity, defining themselves as clerks rather than professionals. Service providers lose their identity as professionals as they must prioritize compliance over meaningful outcomes to avoid sanctions. Without discretion, they find it difficult to address problems and experience little meaning in their work, resulting in the provision of standardized, minimized services.