This paper provides an analytical tool for questioning the cognitive informational basis of employability policies. In times of high unemployment, the role of employability policies has gained in importance. To develop innovative employability measures, the informational basis of current approaches should be questioned and rethought. This article suggests both an analytical grid and a revised taxonomy of the dualistic approach to employability which consist of the "Work-First" and "Human Capital" approach. It does so by borrowing the notion of référentiel from public policy analysis and by adopting a Capability Approach perspective (CA). The analytical exercise is applied to the local Public Employment Services (PES) of the Brussels Capital Region (Belgium). The added value of this analytical approach is two-fold: it examines the cognitive bases of the concept of employability while providing an alternative taxonomy against which employability policies can be assessed and rethought.
Keywords: Référentiel, employability, capability approach, Belgium