Social welfare officers cite anecdotal evidence that temporary public works programmes have worked well for some of the most disadvantaged jobseekers, providing participants with valuable work experience and contacts that lead to regular employment. More systematic assessments of Workplaces with Stipends, a major public w orks programme introduced during the crisis, have shown that they effectively mitigated the impact of job loss resulting from the crisis and, in the short term, significantly raised incomes in participating households (Azam et al., Subsequent monitoring of job search activities and unregistered employment also points to possible positive impacts on formal employment after programme completion (Ministry of Welfare, 2011). The suitability of direct job creation for addressing more structural labour market problems is not well documented and is difficult to assess based on these results.