Since the First World War, in most European countries labor offices have been established. Within a few years they have become indispensable social-political phenomenons of the European welfare states. Later, state-run labor market instruments played a key role in the dictatorships of Austria and other European countries and shaped the social policy of Japan and Brazil. In their overviews and contributions to specific aspects of the labor market, the authors focus on the history of the Austrian employment offices with the aim of placing them in a larger socio-political and international historical context.